In January 2021, Governor Baker signed An Act Promoting Awareness of Sewage in Public Waters into law. This new law will make sure the public knows when untreated sewage flows into Massachusetts waters. This includes certain Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs). The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Town of Maynard recognizes the importance of notifying the public when untreated sewage is released into our waters.

When a discharge or overflow occurs, Maynard DPW sends out a public advisory notification. On business days, this website will be updated within 2 hours of the notification. During nights, weekends, or holidays this website will be updated on the next business day.

You can also see a list if discharge and overflow events on the MassDEP website. This list is updated within 24 hours of when the public advisory notification is sent.

The fastest way to get any of our town information is sign up to receive public notifications through Hyper-reach. Find more information at our Hyper-Reach page.

Reducing Sewer System Backups & Overflows

Removing sump pumps from the sewer will reduce sewer system backups and overflows and lessen the strain on the wastewater treatment plant during heavy rain events. The sewer system and treatment plant are not designed to handle flow from sump pumps. A sump pump can contribute over 5,000 gallons per day of unwanted ground water to the sanitary sewer system.
 
An 8-inch sanitary sewer line can accommodate waste flows from up to 200 properties, but the sump pump discharge from only 18 properties will overload the same line, causing backups and overflows into basements.
 
Sewer backups and overflows are a public health risk and harm the surrounding environment, including the Assabet River. (12/21/23  9:03AM)

To see our Sewer Regulations,

Town of Maynard Sewer Regulation

Public Advisory Notification

 This is to inform all the public and necessary parties that on December 18, 2023, the Maynard Wastewater Treatment Facility bypassed a small portion of its tertiary treatment process due to a large Rain Event.  The effluent flow that went to the Assabet River was considered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Code of Regulations to be Partially Treated: 

 “Partially Treated is defined by 314 CMR 16.02 as a discharge through an outfall from a treatment works where all or a portion of the flow is not conveyed through all treatment units.”

 The Maynard Wastewater Treatment facility flow runs by gravity up until the point of tertiary treatment where the flow must be pumped up to the co-mag system for phosphorus elimination.   During the rain event these pumps were overwhelmed, and a minimal amount of water went into the regular effluent flow via the wet well overflow pipe without phosphorus treatment.  There is no danger to public health and there is no need for precautionary measures. 

 The bypass lasted from 4:30pm to 7:15pm.   The amount that escaped full co-mag phosphorus, tertiary treatment was estimated to be approximately 60 gpm (2340 gallons of effluent in total).   The majority of the facilities’ flow 3,333 gpm (4,700,000 in total) was processed 100% by all required facility processes.  There was no meter or historical data to determine this amount.  The amount was determined by filling a 5-gallon bucket from the overflow pipe and timing it.  This is the first time that the facility has implemented its high flow plan and not been able to process the total amount of the discharge flow.

 The entire flow received its normal treatment for TSS, BOD, NH3N, and Disinfection as normal.  Only the phosphorus treatment was bypassed and affected.   The water was tested every hour during the event and the plant was well below NPDES compliance limits for phosphorus (results 0 - 0.014 mg/l).    Due to the fact that the facility was still in compliance, and the fact that there was deemed no impact to the public health, there was some confusion about the need for public notification causing a delay in said notification.  There was no need for precautionary measures during the event and there is no need for precautionary measures now.