Posted on November 15, 2018
The Township of Wellington North is getting a large assist from the federal government and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with upgrades to the Arthur Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Marco Mendicino, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, and Berry Vrbanovic, Green Municipal Fund Council member and Mayor of Kitchener, were in Arthur on Tuesday morning to announce over $7 million in grants and loans through the Green Municipal Fund to improve wastewater treatment plants in the Townships of Wellington North and St. Clair.
Wellington North will receive $5.75 million to upgrade the 30-year-old wastewater treatment plant in Arthur. Of that amount, $5 million will be a loan and the remaining $750,000 is a grant. The details of the loan have not been finalized as of the announcement. Money for the Green Municipal Fund is provided by the federal government.
The township will upgrade the wastewater treatment plant in Arthur to accommodate the servicing requirements of projected population growth in the area and improve the quality of liquid waste and sewage the plant discharges into the Conestogo River.
“Living down river on the Conestogo River this is something we truly appreciate,” Vrbanovic said. “I must say this is something we truly appreciate. We’re proud to see our municipalities showing such leadership to natural challenges. Local governments best understand our needs on the ground and the solutions that work in their communities. Tapping into this local expertise and scaling up these local solutions across the country is vital to meeting Canada’s national climate goals.”
The township proposes to upgrade its treatment plant over two phases with an anticipated completion date by the end of 2025. Phase one will include an upgrade to the sewage pumping station that will significantly reduce the incidence of overflow events. The addition of an equalization tank will eliminate bypass events at the plant. Included in the design are energy-saving measures such as energy-efficient aeration blowers and the integration of an advanced instrumentation and control system at the plant.
The second phase will increase sewage quality with the installation of a new headworks building and converting the equalization tank to a secondary treatment unit. Additional upgrades to the effluent pumping system will further improve the energy efficiency of the system.
It is anticipated the upgraded wastewater treatment plant will meet new discharge objectives which reduce carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand by 50 per cent, total suspended solids by 50 per cent, total phosphorus by 75 per cent and total ammonia nitrogen by 66 per cent.
On average the new aeration blowers will use 60 per cent less energy, reducing CO2 emissions by 21 tonnes per year.
Economic benefits for the municipality could include savings up to $27,000 a year in electricity costs under current operation conditions. The capacity expansion by the end of phase two will allow for an additional 600 houses to connect to the sewage system, bringing additional revenues to the municipality.
“We do intend to be partners to make things better for not only our community but those around us,” Wellington North Mayor Andy Lennox said. “We’re proud to be a partner in that regard. Right now in Arthur, we’re unable to further develop. We have businesses that are clamoring for workforce. We have constant demand we can’t meet. And this is an absolutely critical step in us being able to address those concerns and continue to grow our local economy.”
Source: SouthWesternOntario
