“Flush and done,” is not a slogan you’d find at the Warwick Sewer Authority.

Rather, it’s what happens after the toilet bowl, or for that matter the kitchen sink, washer or the bath tub water goes down the drain that is top of mind for the WSA.

The authority keeps close watch on waste water from the moment it reaches the sewer infrastructure of pipes, many of them dating back to the 1960s until clean effluent is released into the Pawtuxet River. But the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system that monitors what’s happening underground and 49 pumping stations is old, hard to find replacement parts for and lacking the capabilities of today’s systems.

On Monday, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse visited WSA offices to announce a $1.5 million earmark to replace the aging system and improve the authority’s ability to respond and address problems.

“The town is old and the infrastructure is in crisis. It’s not something we can do on our own,” Mayor Frank Picozzi said introducing Reed. Reed briefly reminisced of his days as a boy when he floated down the Pawtuxet River in a giant paint barrel. He recalled drifting through “great puffs of white stuff” as the river flowed beside the Ciba Geigy pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Cranston, unaware at the time that the effluent was polluting the river and the bay. His point was that millions have been spent on cleaning up the river and the bay and ensuring clean water requires persistent monitoring of systems.

Not upgrading the monitoring system would be “putting the cart before the horse,” he said.

Betty Anne Rogers, WSA executive director, underscored the importance of SCADA and how the system detected a change in the flow from the Oakland Beach interceptor. A crew traced the problem to a “bulge” in the pipe that could have resulted in a rupture. The WSA has since slip lined the Oakland Beach and Airport interceptors and is embarking on the Lincoln Avenue interceptor that involves working with Amtrak.

The WSA has not been so fortunate in averting the ravages of age and corrosive sewer gases on pipes beneath Sandy Lane or the forced main on Lakeshore Drive. The Sandy Lane break required a months long detour of Sandy Lane as the line more than 20 feet below the road was unearthed and replaced. The forced main break from the Cedar Swamp pumping station spilled an estimated 115,000 gallons of waste into Warwick Pond before a bypass was operational and repairs made.

The overall slip lining of the forced main has been delayed as bids for the job, originally estimated at $4.9 million came in at close to $15 million. The authority was expected to approve last night the hiring of an engineering firm to validate the bid and suggest any cost savings. Rogers expects that work to be completed in another two weeks. She said if the bid is validated, the authority would need to return to the council to increase its bond authorization.

Rogers said the authority is looking for any and all financial assistance.

“This is going to allow us to get a state of the art system,” she said of the $1.5 million grant.