About Us:

Our Accomplishments:

The Public Utilities Division operates and is driven to achieve three core missions.

The Danbury Water Division (DWD) continues to focus on the core mission “To provide our customers with adequate quantities of high quality water that meets or exceeds the standards established for the protection of Public Health, as well as provide sufficient fire flow for the protection of public and private property.”

The DWD presently produces about 7.0 million gallons of water per day through daily management of a water supply system that consists of 8 reservoirs, 1 well site, 2 water treatment plants, 14 pump stations, 9 storage tanks, 200 miles of water pipe and 2000 fire hydrants.  Our water’s quality is continually verified through 24 hour monitoring by water plant operators and through daily testing.  About 27,000 water tests are performed annually to monitor water quality.  Approximately 11,000 water service line meters are in place and are used to bill customers for water use.  The current population of customers served by the DWD is approximately 64,000 people.

Annual inspection and routine maintenance of our 8 water supply dams continue to ensure that they remain in good condition.  We actively work with the City Fire Department to ensure fire hydrants are annually tested and repaired and replaced as needed.  Additional system improvements include new water main installations, new computer systems, and new laboratory, treatment plant, and pump station equipment, as well as the continued upgrade of old water meters with new and more accurate water meters that can be read by radio signals.

We obtained CT DEEP approval to modify the existing water diversion permit to allow the Kenosia Well Field to operate year round.  Year round Kenosia Well Field operation increases our water system’s safe yield and helps ensure that there is adequate water to serve the Danbury area as well as assist with regional needs.

The Sewer Division has a mission “To provide the City of Danbury and the neighboring Region with sound disposal and treatment methods for wastewater and septic system wastes to ensure the protection of human health and the preservation of the environment”.

The Danbury Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) provides wastewater and septage treatment for Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, Ridgefield, and Newtown, and also accepts septage from New Fairfield, Redding, and Bridgewater, and some out of region towns.  The WPCP currently treats an average wastewater flow of 9 million gallons per day and an average septage load of 12 million gallons per year.  In addition to WPCP operations, oversight of the sanitary sewer collection system involves operation and maintenance of 19 sewer pump stations, 164 miles of sewer line, and 4,500 sewer manholes.

Our capacity, management, operation, and maintenance (CMOM) program continues to be optimized to reduce the occurrence of sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events.  The implementation of our fats, oils, and grease (FOG) prevention program through site inspections and FOG compliance education of all food preparation establishments is helping reduce SSO events from occurring in our sewer collection system.

In Calendar Year 2013, the successful operation of our WPCP’s interim nitrogen removal facility by Veolia Water not only resulted in a net savings of over $600,000 vs. the cost of purchasing nitrogen credits had the system not been operating, but also resulted in the City being paid $48,000 by CT DEEP due to the WPCP removing more nitrogen then was required in the General Permit for Nitrogen Dischargers.  The use of reclaimed methanol, when available, continues to help reduce the chemical cost of operating this system. We continue to make improvements to the existing nitrogen removal system to further reduce overall nitrogen removal and to the existing phosphorus removal system to ensure compliance with CT DEEP’s proposed interim seasonal phosphorus limits of 0.6 mg/l for the next 5 year permit period.

With the recent installation of a new liquid dechlorination system at the WPCP, the replacement of the chlorine and sulfur dioxide gas systems with safer liquid sodium hypochlorite (bleach) and sodium bisulfite solutions systems is now fully complete.  Although this facility never experienced accidents or unregulated releases of hazardous gas, the decommissioning of the sulfur dioxide gas system in 2013 along with the previously decommissioned chlorine gas system in 2008 has eliminated the potential hazards to the community living and working around the treatment plant that are associated with these gas systems.

Lastly, the Recycling and Solid Waste Division has a mission, “To administer programs, which provide Danbury residents with environmentally sound methods for management of solid waste”.  The Public Utilities Division oversees the operation of the yard waste management program as well as coordinates Regional Household Hazardous Waste Collection events in our City.  The City’s Electronic (E) Waste Recycling Program was implemented in 2011 and allows resident drop-off of E-Waste at the Winters Brothers site at 307 White Street.

The Public Utilities Division continues to operate the Landfill Gas Collection and Treatment Facility in compliance with the Department of Environmental Protection permits and regulatory standards.  The Danbury Landfill is a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) land disposal site and has been closed since 1997.  The closed landfill is operated under a CT DEEP Stewardship Permit which consolidates all closure requirements of the landfill under a single permit, and defines end points for the continued long term operation of this closed disposal site. 

We will also be reviewing the feasibility of installing a solar power system at the Danbury Landfill through the Connecticut Zero Emission Renewable Energy Credit (ZREC) Program.