COPY OF RIDGEFIELD, CT
1999 PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT
TEXT CONCERNING SEWERS
The following text is drawn from the Ridgefield Town Plan which became effective August 15, 1999.

According to the section on Public Sewer Service, "As previously indicated, sewer service is the only utility service that is provided by the Town of Ridgefield. Public sewer service can be used to provide safe treatment of sewage and to replace failed septic systems.

The existing sewerage systems (Ridgefield Center, Routes 7/35, and Danbury) have been upgraded and maintained over the years to meet community needs, although a history of water quality concerns downstream of the Ridgefield Center plant may require additional investigation and improvement.

Virtually all areas that are planned to be sewered, have sewers available to them. Additional treatment capacity is available in some areas to meet future needs. Inflow and infiltration issues continue to be addressed to preserve treatment capacity. Expansion of treatment facilities will occur in response to local needs."

The 1999 text continuing, "In order to address issues such as failing septic systems and inadequate septic replacement areas in some areas, sewer service may be extended in the future to the Soundview/Marcadon area, the Westmoreland area, the New Street area, and/or the Lake Mamanasco/Wataba Lake areas. Extension of sewer service into Conservation and Preservation areas as delineated in the Connecticut Conservation and Development Policies Plan (1998-2003) should be limited in the manner prescribed in that Plan.

Due to the limited flow of the Norwalk River, the sewer system at Routes 7/35 should be reserved primarily for public health concerns in existing residential areas.

For many parts of Ridgefield, the Town should continue to rely upon on-site septic systems to maintain the town's rural character and deter more dense development."

RIDGEFIELD, CT SEWER SERVICE
HISTORY (UPDATED ONLY TO 1992)
1. Ridgefield, CT Center Sewer Service Area:
The Town of Ridgefield has three distinct sewer service areas served by three separate treatment facilities. Ridgefield’s initial municipal sewer system was begun in the early 1900’s and served the Town Center area.

Planning for this portion of the Town’s sewer system in modern times dates from 1972, when the engineering firm of Whitman & Howard prepared a report recommending an expansion of the Town’s sewer service area to include the Copps Hill area just north of Ridgefield Center.

2. Ridgefield, CT Route 7/Route 35 Sewer Service Area:
A second municipal sewer service area is located at the junction of Routes 7 and 35 in northeastern Ridgefield. This area contains approximately 35 commercial properties. Sewage from this area is treated by a sewage treatment plant which the Town constructed in 1985 on land acquired from the Perkin-Elmer Corporation in 1982.

The sewage treatment plant previously built in this area and exclusively used first by the Benrus Corporation and subsequently by Perkin-Elmer was abandoned after the new plant was constructed by the Town. The sewer service area served by this treatment facility is shown in the figure entitled Town of Ridgefield Existing Sewer Service Areas.

In order to create a policy of fairness, each property served was given a specific maximum allocation of sewage volume which could be generated. However, the low volume of sewage flows generated to date in this area has not required the implementation of an allocation system.

This sewer service area has the potential to service additional lands, including property owned by IBM, of which approximately 320 acres are zoned for corporate development purposes.

3. Ridgefield, CT's Ridgebury Sewer Service Area:
A third sewer service area in Ridgefield consists of an area in the northern tier of the Town which is zoned Corporate Development District, enabling the development of major corporate facilities. The eastern section of this sewer service area includes the Boehringer Ingelheim corporate complex. The western section remains undeveloped.

Sewage collected from these areas flows into the Danbury sewer system. Intermunicipal agreements between Ridgefield and Danbury reserve 0.14 MGD of treatment capacity in the Danbury sewage treatment plant to serve this area of Ridgefield. The flow from these areas in 1991 was approximately 0.09 MGD.

RIDGEFIELD, CT TREATMENT PLANT
CAPACITY (UPDATED ONLY TO 1992)
1. Ridgefield CT's Center Sewage Treatment Plant:
The 1972 sewer report by Whitman & Howard recommended upgrading the Town’s seventy year old sewage treatment plant serving the Ridgefield Center area from primary treatment levels to secondary level treatment. The Ridgefield Center sewage treatment plant discharges treated sewage effluent into the Great Swamp, which is considered to be the headwaters of the Norwalk River.

The Great Swamp is a calcareous, red maple swamp. This area contains the Great Swamp Aquifer, which has a hypothetical well yield of 0.5 MGD. This aquifer has been considered as a potential water supply source for Ridgefield.

The sewer report also recommended expanding the plants treatment capacity beyond its then current 0.126 MGD capacity. During periods of heavy rainfall, the treatment plant experienced stormwater surge flows as high as 0.92 MGD due to stormwater runoff infiltrating into the Town’s aging sewer collection system. When this condition occurred, collected sewage bypassed the treatment plant and discharged directly into Great Swamp.

This sewage treatment facility was upgraded and expanded to 0.72 MGD in 1974. At the same time, the Town undertook a program to locate and eliminate stormwater runoff infiltrating into the sanitary sewer systems 2.5 miles of piping.

In 1975, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection issued a sewer pollution abatement order to the Town of Ridgefield. This order was the beginning of the State’s efforts to raise the classification of the Norwalk River, which receives the treated sewage effluent from the Ridgefield sewage treatment plant, from an unacceptable C classification to an acceptable B classification.

In 1982, the Ridgefield Town Planner, Town Engineer and Town Sanitarian prepared an estimate of future sewage flows based on a land holding capacity analysis of the Ridgefield Center sewer district. This study found a need to increase the capacity of the sewage treatment plant by 0.222 MGD.

However, the problems associated with stormwater runoff infiltration into the sanitary sewer lines persisted and by 1984, stormwater surge flows through the treatment plant serving the Ridgefield Center area were estimated at 2.0 MGD. A sewer engineering study completed by the firm of Albertson, Sharpe and Ewing recommended an increase in the sewage treatment plants capacity to 1.5 MGD, to be coupled with a ten year program of repairs to the areas sewer pipes, in order to eliminate stormwater infiltration.

Between 1986 and 1989 a moratorium on new sewer hookups was in effect, due to continued overloading of the sewage treatment plant from stormwater infiltration. The engineering firm of Sterns and Wheeler prepared a new sewerage report and recommended upgrading and expanding the treatment plants capacity to 1.0 MGD. In 1987, the Town voted against enlarging and upgrading the sewage treatment plant.

This action was reversed in 1988 when the Town approved $13.6 million for expansion and upgrading of the sewage treatment plant and for repairs to 9,100 feet of sewer pipe serving the Town Center area. Plant improvements are scheduled to be completed in 1992, expanding the plants treatment capacity to 1.0 MGD.

2. Ridgefield, CT Sewage Treatment Plant #2:
A second Ridgefield sewage treatment plant serves the sewered areas around the junction of Routes 7 and 35. The Town constructed this 0.12 MGD treatment facility in the vicinity of the sewer plant originally constructed by the Benrus Corporation and subsequently purchased by Perkin Elmer. This second municipal sewage treatment plant went into public service in 1985. The State paid 55% of the cost to upgrade this facility, as well as 30% of the cost of sewer lines serving the area. The remaining costs were born by the users of the system.

The 1991 flow of sewage into this facility was approximately 0.025 MGD. The plant’s treatment capacity has the potential to be increased to 0.263 MGD, with physical modifications, if demand justifies, and if the CT DEP finds that the water quality of the Norwalk River will not be harmed. If the undeveloped 320 acres of land zoned for corporate uses in this area were to be developed, this sewer plant would have the treatment capacity to accommodate anticipated additional sewage flows.

3. Danbury, CT Treatment of Ridgebury Sewage:
Ridgefield’s third sewer service area includes two parcels located in the northeast and in the northwest corners of the Town within Corporate Development Districts. According to the provisions of intermunicipal agreements between Danbury and Ridgefield, dated 1974 and 1985, Danbury provides sewage treatment service to these two parcels.

The parcel in the northeast corner of town contains the portion of the Boehringer Ingelheim corporate facilities which are located in Ridgefield. An intermunicipal agreement provides for a maximum of 0.12 MGD of treatment by Danbury for sewage flowing from this parcel. The flow from this parcel in 1991 was approximately 0.09 MGD.

An intermunicipal agreement provides for a maximum of 0.02 MGD treatment from the City of Danbury for sewage flowing from the parcel located in the northwest corner of town. To date, no development has occurred on this parcel.

Sewage collected from these two parcels flows into the Mill Plain Road/Lake Avenue interceptor and eventually into the Danbury sewage treatment plant. A request made in 1992 to the City of Danbury for an additional 0.18 MGD of 25treatment capacity is pending.

In addition to the Town’s municipal sewer systems, the Perkin-Elmer Corporation has a CT DEP regulated permit to discharge up to 0.18 MGD of wastewater directly into the Norwalk River as a part of a groundwater contamination recovery effort.