4. Brewer's Cove Haven Marina

Metered Sewage Flow Saves Thousands

Environmental change

After adding a new pumpout station in 1994, a Doppler-type flow meter was installed on the marina's sewer line connecting into the town system, resulting in a lower annual sewer bill.

The full-service marina and boatyard

Well-landscaped and very clean, Brewer's Cove Haven Marina recently renovated its restrooms and showers to the delight of customers and the occupants of the 10 seasonal liveaboards. First built in 1961, Cove Haven was purchased in 1967 and became part of the 14-marina chain owned by Jack Brewer of New York. It is rated among the best marinas in Rhode Island.

Cove Haven is a full-service facility with a summer capacity for storing 220 boats in slips and 50 on land, while maintaining a full boatyard repair service for pleasure and commercial vessels. During a visit to the site, the author observed that a 105-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter had been hauled with the 150-ton travel lift for major hull, propulsion, and interior work. The operation is so clean that no dust entered the well-used swimming pool about 100 feet away.

Cove Haven remains one of the few yards specializing in the 12-meter America's Cup boats, and at one time maintained vessels from six different competing syndicates. The marina specializes in fine hull refinishing using the latest environmentally "friendly" high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) sprays and dustless sanders. Other services include complete repair service to fiberglass hulls and inboard engines, metal fabrication, painting, sailboat rigging, canvas/sails, electronics, bottom cleaning, and keel installation. Much of the hull repair and painting is done inside several large storage and work buildings on site.

In addition to the slips and dry storage, Cove Haven is home to a yacht club, transient dockage, launch/haulout, used boat brokerage, marine store, fuel dock, and pool for customers. Other boat-hauling equipment includes a hydraulic trailer, a crane, and a forklift. Thirty-two employees work full-time year-round, with six part-timers added in the summer boating season. Boat sizes range from under 21 feet to well over 50 feet, with 66% in the 26- to 40-foot size range.

With 8 other marinas and boatyards and a combined fleet of nearly 2,000 boats within 2 miles of Cove Haven's docks, the marina is in a very competitive market. But as part of the Brewer Yacht Yards marina chain along the coast from New York to Maine, Cove Haven has made a concerted effort to become an environmentally compatible marina. "When we started to clean up the yard several years ago," Mike Keyworth explained, "our customers gave us many compliments. So we kept on cleaning up and making improvements. And they complimented us more and more, which made us feel good. The thing about this process is that once we started, the more we wanted to do."

As a result of many environmental improvements, Brewer's Cove Haven Marina recovered faster from the recent [1989-1993] recession. Its slips nearly sold out, and the marina still charges berth rates among the highest in its market.

No stranger to environmental regulations, Mike Keyworth was one of a number who at first wanted to fight the proposed Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendment (CZARA) program nonpoint source requirements back in 1991, but instead became involved in recommending changes to make the process work for both the environment and the marina industry. Becoming an environmental activist, first as the Marina Chairman and currently as President of the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association, Keyworth has devoted hundreds of hours to making Rhode Island's coastal and environmental regulations more realistic for the government and for the boating industry, the state's largest maritime industry.

In a recent statewide marina workshop, Keyworth said, "Even if Congress modifies the Clean Water Act, the nonpoint source guidance is what we should be doing because it's the right thing to do for the environment. And it is also good for our boating business."

Management measures

Brewer's Cove Haven Marina complies with the marina management measures for sewage facility and maintenance of sewage facilities, as well as shoreline stabilization, storm water runoff control, fueling station design, solid waste, liquid materials, petroleum control, and public education.

Costs/benefits

Cove Haven's town sewer bill decreased from $3,410 in 1994 to $807 in 1995 after installation of a sewage flow meter. Annual savings are expected to continue, and possibly increase, due to the rising cost of town sewer fees. The sewage flow meter and manhole were installed at Brewer's Cove Haven Marina for a cost of $6,800.

Environmental improvements

Doing the right thing is not always as easy as it looks or should be. In this case, Brewer's Cove Haven Marina applied for and received a Clean Vessel Act (CVA) grant through the State of Rhode Island to install a two-station pumpout system with direct connection into the Town of Barrington's sewer line.

Once the grant had been approved, Mike Keyworth applied for a local permit to expand his sewer connection with the new boat pumpout. But, since the town sends all its sewage to the plant in the neighboring City of East Providence, it is bound by their regulations. Apparently an ordinance exists to prohibit septic haulers from loading their plant with waste from towns other than Barrington. Once the East Providence authorities learned of the approved pumpout station, they asked whether all the boats that could use it were from either East Providence or Barrington. Keyworth replied honestly that the boaters came from many towns and several states and included frequent transient visitors from greater distances along the Atlantic Coast. On that basis, East Providence denied Cove Haven's request to tie in. After months of discussions, and with help from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the city realized how important it was to help clean the bay and modified its ordinance to exempt boat sewage from that restriction. That done, Cove Haven was permitted to tie in.

Brewer's Cove Haven Marina accommodates 220 power and sail boats. (All photos by Neil Ross unless otherwise noted)

However, the East Providence officials estimated that the new pumpouts would significantly increase the sewage flow from the marina and projected a major increase in the annual sewage bill. Keyworth argued that the volume of boat sewage effluent would be relatively small and limited to the boating season (almost all from May through September). He further explained that since the normal sewer bill was based on the volume of town water purchased, even with the pumpout included, the marina's sewer volume would be less than that currently charged. A large percentage of the water used in this full-service marina was used outdoors, mostly to hose down boats in slips, as well as to keep Cove Haven's swimming pool full and to water plantings. East Providence challenged Cove Haven to either prove exactly what the sewer volume would be or accept the city's higher cost estimate.

With the town engineer's approval, a low-volume sewage flow meter and manhole were installed to measure 100% of the marina's sewage output. The cost of that installation was $6,800. In a very smart move, Keyworth insisted that the meter measure the entire marina, not just the pumpout station as the town had first suggested.

Once the pumpout stations and meter were installed, the town began to read the meter every month. Based on the readings, i.e., actual marina sewage flow volumes, the 1995 sewer bill decreased by a total of $2,603. The overall cost to construct and install the sewage flow meter and manhole was $6,800 in 1994. Based on cost saving alone due to the metering, this cost would be paid off in 2.3 years. However, the installation cost of the flow meter was covered in the marinas's CVA grant for the pumpout station with the 25% match contributed by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

Other marinas with sewer bills based on the volume of city water purchased should consider installing a flow meter, Keyworth recommends. The actual sewage volume produced will almost always be much less than the amount of water used, and savings can result.

Other improvements at Cove Haven include oil spill containment equipment stored at the fuel dock, dustless sanding, recycling of used oil and solvents, public education through newsletters and signs, designated hull work areas, and major renovation of restrooms and showers.

Other benefits

Slip customers at Cove Haven, like others with slips in the five-state Brewer chain, receive a credit-card size magnetic card to operate the do-it-yourself pumpout station free. There is a refundable $50 deposit for the card, which allows all free pumpouts in any one or all 15 marinas in the coastal chain. Non-slip customers pay $5.00 per pumpout.

By offering pumpout service to all the boats in Bullocks Cove, "that which is pumped out is not pumped out into the waters of the bay," Keyworth said. "Our boaters receive a clear message that we are doing the environmental right thing, and they should do it as well.

The town benefited when inappropriate local sewage regulations were modified to accommodate changing times and standards. Rhode Island was able to further accomplish its goal toward cleaner waters, which is good for the public. The national Clean Vessel Act's goals, enacted by Congress, were accomplished here. And in the process, metering our line obviously saves money on sewer bills."

Brewer's Cove Haven Marina is thus saving a significant annual cost after challenging and proving that its annual sewage production-from a 220-slip full-service marina with two pumpout stations-was much lower than previously estimated and billed in past years. The main benefit of this project-for the people of East Providence, Barrington, and Rhode Island-is that Cove Haven Marina (and the three other Brewer yacht yards around Narragansett Bay) is helping to improve the water quality. Mike Keyworth added, "We need clean water for people to have good boating on the bay."

"We add an environmental surcharge of 1% on everything-slips, haulout, labor, services, materials-as do the other full-service marinas in our Brewer chain (although the rate may vary between yards)," Kenworth said. "We only had one or two complaints at first. Now everyone accepts it as part of their contribution in the effort to clean up the waters of our bay." Income from the surcharge has helped pay for Mike's time attending environmental planning meetings with government professionals, as well as obtaining an NPDES permit, developing a BMP plan, training staff, cleaning up the yard, posting signs, and other unbillable costs necessary to maintain a clean marina.

Equipment sources

• Sewage meter: An echo ranging, ultrasonic flow meter used in conjunction with a primary measuring weir device for fluid flow in an open channel. Mounted above the weir, the transponder works by measuring the changing distance from the meter to the surface of the liquid passing the weir neck. Polysonics ERS91-F, open-channel flow meter, by Peek Measurement, Houston, TX.

• Pumpout station and magnetic card: Waubaushene ARV 125-gallon; Waubaushene Machine and Welding, P.O. Box 99, 111 Coldwater Road, Waubaushene, Ontario, Canada.