The Water Supply Board Advisory Commission was established by the Town Council on April 3, 2018 as Chapter 55 of the Town’s ordinances.

The Town of Smithfield’s Water Supply Board Advisory Commission, the “Advisory Commission”, advises the town’s Council on matters concerning the supply of public water to its customers. As charged, the general duties and purposes of the Smithfield Water Supply Board Advisory Commission per Chapter 55-5 are listed below along with the status and accomplishments towards these goals.

1. Study and report on the present and future operations of the Water Department
   
   • Status: Current efforts are focusing on providing routine financial snapshot reports to permit financial oversight and budgetary visibility.
     Public Visibility has also been enhanced by improving the web-site information available to the public.
2. Study and report on present and future water rates, including the tier system and an infrastructure charge
   
   • Status: Completed – Water Advisory Commission forwarded recommendation to the Town Council on May 13, 2019 for consideration. A copy of the Rate Study can be seen here (Link)
3. Study and report on the current and future infrastructure needs of the Water Department, including any bonding which may be required
   
   • Status: Current Projects in progress;
     
     1. Pare Engineering contracted to design storage tanks upgrades and recoating – bonded $3.M
     2. Funding to establish capital funds within proposed rate structure to include $1.4 M project – project to be determined – capital
     3. Capital Projects Evaluation – Pare Corp.
     4. 2011 Clean Water infrastructure Replacement Plan Update – Pare Corp.
   • Status; Recently completed Projects
   1. Pare Engineering contracted to develop existing pipe assessment and replacement plan.
   2. Pare Engineering developing a water layer in the town’s GIS system.
   3. Pare Engineering evaluated and update the town’s hydraulic model based on item 1 and item 2 being updated.
4. Study and report on potential additional sources of water, including possible interconnections with Lincoln and North Smithfield
   
   • Status:
     
     • Providence Water Supply (PWS) is interested in providing more water to both Lincoln and Smithfield. Very preliminary designs have begun to design supply mains.
     • Lincoln – Lincoln is evaluating supply of additional water in the summer months and have started very preliminary designs on the construction of a pump station to bring the water from PWS.
     • The above mains and pump station being designed will handle up to an additional 1,000,000 gallons per day for Smithfield, through a pump station along Rte. 116 that we would construct, if Smithfield elects to connect in the future.
     • The North Smithfield water source option was dismissed due to concerns of mixing groundwater supply with Providence Water Supply and potential chemical reactions that could lead to poor water quality.
     • Also being evaluated as part of the Capital Evaluation Project is potential benefits of an interconnection with the Greenville Water Supply.
5. Study and report on the possible pipe swap with the Providence Water Supply Board at the Longview Pump Station and the possible transfer of North Providence customers to Providence Water
   
   • Status: In a recent meeting with Providence Water Supply they stated that they would be interested in taking over the North Providence customers through re-tapping the main feed to their 16” main, however, they are not interest in swapping the 16” main for the 12” main.
6. Study and report on the Woodcock study and the possible merger with the Greenville Water District
   
   • Status: Completed – Letter forwarded to the Town Council from the Water Advisory Board referencing the August 28, 2018 letter from the Greenville Water District removing themselves from the Study.
7. Study and report on possible revisions and updates to the Smithfield Water Supply Board rules and regulations
   
   • Status: Completed – Water Advisory Commission forwarded recommendations on revised Rate, Rules and Regulations to the Town Council for consideration on March 19, 2019. (Link to recommended R&R)
8. Study and consult with Water Board engineers and report on possible infrastructure needs for the EGO zone
   
   • Status: Next step – Review updated hydraulic model with Pare Engineering to determine if water quality and main looping recommendations, from Pare 2017 report, are still prioritized appropriately, or if other options are available to supply water to the EGO zone, i.e. Providence Water now has East Smithfield System which runs parallel to SWSB system, Greenville Water District additional connections could provide needed hydraulic improvements. This will be evaluated during the Capital Evaluation Project.
9. Perform any other water- related functions assigned to the Commission by the Town Council
   
   • Status: No additional functions at this time