Awaiting Report Item Number 18-23, relative to repairs to the Harvard Square Portland Loo and methods to prevent service interruptions in the future

Public Works Commissioner

Re: Awaiting Report 18-23 of 02/26/2018 regarding why repairs to the Harvard Square Portland Loo took so long, and what proactive methods are being taken into consideration to prevent service interruptions in the future. In response to the above referenced awaiting report please be advised that the Public Works Department has been working with the vendor of the Portland Loo since the toilet was first installed in Harvard Square in February of 2016 to address cold weather issues.

The toilet has remained under warranty since that time. While our impression is that overall the installation has been a successful one, from the outset we have struggled keeping it operational during cold weather months. During the first six months after its opening we had the manufacture make several modifications to the system to keep the water systems within the unit from freezing. We also added these modifications to the specifications that were put together for the Central Square installation.

In February of this year we found that the original insulation on the water piping at the back of the unit had failed and caused additional freezing at the rear water supply at the main pipeline into the unit. The toilet was then shut down and a full evaluation was done to determine a long- term solution to the problem. Work was subsequently scheduled to replace the broken waterline, replace failed water valves, and to get the piping professionally insulated.

While none of this work was overly complicated it did involve several contractors and needed to be scheduled in sequence before we were able to get things back up and running. Because of their experience with Cambridge (The North East is one of their colder installation locations), The Portland Loo company has provided major upgrades to operate in severe weather conditions.

As an option to potential buyers in extreme cold weather situations, the Loo now offers non-freezing protection that has been tested down to 6 degrees Fahrenheit. This new option uses an electrical heat trace around all piping and interior toilet bowl areas. The cold weather upgrade circulates 3500 watts of heated water around these parts ensuring the pipes and toilet drain won't freeze.

With these modifications standard now on the Cambridge models, and additional insulation that we have installed at both locations we feel that we can reasonably minimize future long-term shutdowns.