Wastewater Department
| Wastewater Supervisor: Rick Sirois Phone: (207)868-3975 Email |
About
The Wastewater Treatment Department is located along the banks of the St. John River and was established in 1971. The Van Buren Wastewater Department's mission is to provide a safe, reliable treatment of wastewater to protect the environment. The wastewater is treated to meet or exceed the limits set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection
The facility uses an Activated Sludge process in the extended aeration mode to operate. The Wastewater Treatment Plant processes approximately 120 million (120,000,000) gallons of wastewater annually serving approximately 800 accounts. The treatment plant went through a complete upgrade in 2000 that saw upgrades to all six pump station, two new circular clarifiers, grit removal system, rotary sludge thickener and a 278,000 gallon winter sludge holding tank at the treatment plant.
Hours of Operation
The Wastewater Treatment Plant is in operation twenty-four (24) hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five (365) days per year. The treatment plant is maintained by two operators Monday through Friday from 7a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On the weekends and holidays, an operator must come into the treatment plant to take the flow readings, do the laboratory tests, and check the plant. At all other times, there is an alarm system that monitors the treatment plant and the pump stations. The alarm system reports problems directly to the operator.
Rates
The City Council sets the user fees. The user fees are based on the cost of the operation and maintenance costs of the treatment plant and collection system. The users fund one hundred percent (100%) of the operation and the maintenance of the department.
Documents:
Wastewater Rate Schedule 2022-2023
"What Not To Flush" Bulletin
