On Oct. 13 at the Peace River town council meeting, administration asked council to approve reallocation of funding from the Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Project to finish a Sanitary Sewer Management Master Plan.
The master plan is necessary to update the town’s current sanitary sewer system information that is based on a 2009 Sewer/Wastewater Modelling Report.
“The rationale is to access available grant funding, reduce costs and obtain the updated information needed before proceeding with major infrastructure upgrades,” explains Mayor Shelly Shannon.
“Completing the plan now gives us current information to guide upcoming wastewater treatment upgrades and future development. We need to make tomorrow’s infrastructure decisions using today’s information.”
The master plan will provide a complete assessment of the collection system, including the town’s six existing lift stations. The lift station review, according to the town, will include site visits and an assessment of key operating information including pump inventories, pump curves, and setpoints.
“By incorporating the work into the existing wastewater upgrade project, 40 per cent of eligible costs can be covered through grant funding already allocated to that project,” says Shannon.
“The Town would pay the remaining 60 per cent. Coordinating the engineering work is also expected to save an additional $40,000 in project management costs.”
Shannon says completing the work now is important because the sanitary sewer collection system and the wastewater treatment plant work as an integrated system. She adds decisions regarding the design and capacity of the wastewater treatment plant should be informed by understanding of the flows, capacity, and operating characteristics of the collection system that delivers wastewater to the plant.
“It (the master plan) will identify necessary improvements and help determine what infrastructure we’ll need to accommodate future growth,” Shannon says.
Emily Plihal
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter