Sewage plant upgrades approved

Town council approved the replacement of the grit removal system at the sewage treatment plant here at Monday night’s regular meeting—upgrades that will save the town a lot of money in the long run.
Council awarded Tender No. 09-OF-14 to Venshore Mechanical Ltd. at a cost of $775,800 (plus GST).

Upgrades will include the replacement of grit removal equipment, the supply and installation of a new four-inch diameter effluent water line from the main sewage building to the head works building in order to supply effluent water to the new grit removal equipment, and the installation of two sets of clarifier chains within the secondary clarifiers.
The upgrades have been a long time coming, Coun. Paul Ryan, who sits on the Operations and Facilities executive committee, said after Monday night’s meeting.
“The grit is getting to our plant because of infiltration in our sewer system. It’s been neglected so long,” he noted.
Coun. Ryan added the town is carrying through with a two-part plan to address the problem—the replacement of the grit removal system at the sewage treatment plant and an infiltration study which is being conducted by KGS Group.
“Number-one is getting better equipment to remove this grit,” he stressed. “The grit in our town is angular in shape, not round, so it’s very abrasive.
“These chains that we buy to deliver materials back and forth in the plant itself should last 12-15 years. Ours are getting three-four years,” he noted.
“We have to do something about that.”
The most recent set of chains cost $45,000, plus $47,000 in labour. The last set were bought in February, 2005—less than five years ago.
“We can’t solve our infiltration problem in one year, it’s going to be a long, long time,” Coun. Ryan acknowledged.
He added a study is being done “to find out where the worst infiltration is in town, so we can home in on that first, change the piping that’s been there for probably 100 years, and go at it with a two-pronged approach.”
“It’s something that I have pushed for since day one,” Coun. Ryan added. “We want to provide sewer and water service to everybody in this town forever. . . .
“You can build all the buildings you want, but you’ve got provide the water to them, you have got to look after the pipes,” he argued.
“This is the start of it.”
“This is a good news story,” echoed Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft, who is chair of the Operations and Facilities executive committee.
The cost of the project mostly will be covered by a “Building Canada” grant for $513,260 the town had received earlier this year.
The balance will be funded either from existing reserve funds or the operating budget surplus within the sanitary sewer system.