What The Heck Is That Thing?

People driving around town have been wondering what the big orange apparatus and long pipe starting at Webster Square and ending all the way at the Berlin Turnpike are doing there.

They showed up at the beginning of the summer and have been there since.

Berlin Mayor Adam Salina says not to worry. It is doing a job and not an ominous warning of anything wrong.

"It is all part of the inflow infiltration program that the state is doing," Salina said. "We have cracks in the pipe that runs through there and rainwater is flowing into the pipe. There may also be a small amount of sewage that is seeping out of the pipe."

Salina said the program will fix all the cracks and keep rainwater going where it is supposed to go and will be great for the town when it is finished.

"The liquids flow to the Mattabassett District, which collects our waste," Salina said. "We are charged for the amount of liquids that get to the waste station so it is important we don't have more liquid going there than should be. We don't want to be paying a bill for rainwater filling the cracked pipes."

The Mattabassett District's Water Pollution Control Facility in Cromwell processes wastewater from New Britain, Berlin, Cromwell, Middletown, Newington, Rocky Hill and Farmington, and discharges clean water into the nearby Connecticut River. In operation since 1968, the Facility treats on average 15 to 20 million gallons per day, with a peak flow in excess of 50 million gallons per day.