Since 2008, the Engineering Department has followed a sustained methodical approach to identify and repair leaks in our Town-owned sewer system in an ongoing effort to reduce infiltration entering our system. For those not familiar with Infiltration please visit our Infiltration & Inflow page.

In FY 2019, Dedham's sewer assessment to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) was $5.6 million. The cost breakdown based on flow was as follows:

• Cost to transport & treat Sanitary Flow = $2.9 million (52%)
• Cost to transport & treat Infiltration = $2.1 million (37%)
• Cost to transport & treat Inflow = $0.6 million (11%)

As we continue to inspect our Town-owned sewer system, we have identified that the problem of infiltration also exists in the private sewer connections made to the Town's system. In an effort to keep our sewer rates as low as possible (as of 2019, rates have not increased since 2008!) the Town must find a way to remove infiltration from the private sewer connections that show excessive amount of infiltration entering the system. This has spurred the need for a removal policy for these private connections.

Our discussions on a Private Infiltration Removal Policy began in February 2019, when the Engineering Dept. made a presentation to the Select Board. This presentation discussed the history of Inflow & Infiltration (I/I) and what our department has accomplished since FY2007. It also showed the results of our private sewer connection inspections performed in 2018 and the need for a policy to remove infiltration from these private sewer connections. Click here to download and view that presentation.

In March 2019, an insert was placed into every sewer customer's sewer bill. This insert provided customers with some educational material on what I/I is and how much money it costs the Town in MWRA assessments to pay for the transportation and treated of this clean water. The insert also invited all the customers to attend a Public Meeting on April 1st to learn what has been done by the Town since FY2007 to remove I/I from our Town-owned sewers and what is involved with creating a Private Infiltration Removal Policy. Click here to download and view the March sewer insert.

On April 1, 2019 the Town held an open public meeting to discuss our efforts to remove I/I from the Town-owned sewer system, the results of our private sewer connection inspections performed in 2018 and the major components that go into the creation of a Private Infiltration Removal Policy. During this presentation, we had an interactive segment where the audience members were provided with a clicker where they could select an answer to some mulitple choice questions we presented to them at this meeting. This was done to gather data on what the public feels is important in developing the policy. A copy of the public presentation and the results of the interactive segment can be downloaded below for you to view.

• Public Meeting Private Infiltration Removal Policy Presentation
• Public Meeting Interactive Segment Results

Based upon the feedback we collected at this meeting, the Engineering Dept. decided that a survey to collect data from more of our customers and residents were needed. Therefore in June, we created a sewer survey that was available online to all residents and customers and was also mailed in hardcopy form to all of our customers through another sewer bill insert. We have approximately 8,000 sewer customers and we received back 1,330 completed surveys. Of those completed, 773 surveys were completed online and 557 surveys were mailed in to our department. The results of the survey and the 391 comments provided in the survey can be downloaded below for you to view.

• Sewer Survey Results
• Sewer Survey Comments

After compiling the results of the survey, we began working with Town Counsel to draft a Private Infiltration Removal Policy. A copy of the draft policy along with the results of our sewer survey were presented to the Select Board in October of 2019. Click here to download and view that presentation.

On December 5th, 2019 a Focus Group was conducted with 14 Dedham Resident Volunteers to dig deeper into the draft policy to determine what needed to be revised and/or incorporated to develop the final policy.  The Focus Group came up with many comments and suggestions that helped us shape the policy that was endorsed by the Board of Selectman on 06/18/20 and then issued by the Town Manager on 8/3/20. Below are just a few of the changes that were made to the policy as a result of the Focus Group:

• We switched where the Definitions and Applicability sections came within the policy. The Focus Group felt it was better for the reader to go through the definitions before getting into the heart of the policy.
• We included additional definitions such as Infiltration, Inflow and Sewer Service since the reader may not be familiar with these terms if it was the first time seeing them.
• The Focus Group concurred with our thought of only applying this policy to residential dwellings with four units or less to start. This represents the largest group of ratepayers. If the policy works well here we will expand it to the reminder of the ratepayers.
• We added a statement that the video inspections of private laterals would be available upon request.
• The Focus Group thought that our original late fee of $25 per quarter for those that did not return the “Right of Entry and Release Agreement” within 60 days was too lenient and the majority of the Focus Group suggested that it be raised to $100 per quarter. Some even suggest $250 per quarter, but we went with the majority.
• A statement was included to better define the 1-year limited warranty.

The volunteer residents that were part of this focus group expressed great appreciation to the Town for including them in the policy making process. They hope that the future policies generated by the Town that effect the residents will be done with a Focus Group as well.

On June 18, 2020, the final version of the policy was presented to the Select Board at their public meeting. The Select Board unanimously endorsed the final policy and hopes that other policies developed by the Town will follow a similar path and include residents in the process. The policy was then included into the the current version of the Town's Sewer Regulations and executed by the Town Manager, acting as the Town's Sewer Commissioner.

Below are the documents associated with the approved Private Infiltration Removal Policy (just click on a link to download the document).

• Private Infiltration Removal Policy
• Resident Letter
• Right of Entry and Release Agreement
• FAQs

Moving forward, the Town will continue to perform private sewer service investigations during our wet weather inspection performed each year from March through May. The Engineering Department will move all currently identified private sewer services from the past 3 years into our current backlog of public sewer mains with identified infiltration. Over the next few month, the Engineering Dept. will be working with our consultant to develop specifications for the removal of infiltration from the private sewer services and place these specifications into our next Sewer On-Call Services Contract anticipated to be put out for bid by the end of 2020. It is anticipated that the first private sewer service to be rehabilitated under this policy will occur in the late Spring to early Summer of 2021.

For those that have any questions or concerns regarding the Private Infiltration Removal Policy or have received a Resident Letter stating that their private sewer service was identified as having infiltration, please feel free to contact the Director of Engineering at jmammone@dedham-ma.gov or 781-751-9350.

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