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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2012-04-25, Page 3Wednesday, May 4, 2011 • Lakeshore Advance 7 Tri -municipal board will look at phase&in and full built tenders Lynda Hillman-Repleyr Lakeshore Advance The pre -qualification tenders for both a full and phased in treatment plant will go forward with the nod from the Tri Municipal board at last Friday's meeting. At last week's meeting, Lambton Shores, Bluewater and South Huron agreed to move forward with the tender process for both options. South Huron CAO Roy Hardy said their engineers have reviewed both the full built out or phased -in as to what needs to be considered for the tender process. Hardy said the engineers said both are fossible and have not identified anything that avours one or another. if This is a saving plus we won't need sludge stabilization or storage- don't need to pay for Upping fees for disposal - no cost items for that went into the costs. These are immediate savings that you won't have with other options" — Dr. Louis 'Tasfl, Dillon Consulting New Hamburg Is a location not a treatment plant Dr. Louis Tasfi from Dillow Consulting was in attendance to offer answers to some technical Issues. One big misconception through -out this process has been the "New Hamburg proc- ess" 'IYtsfl explained the history behind this term referring to what began as lagoons in the city of New Hamburg that was enhanced in the mid 1980s and then complimented to a mechanical system ten years ago at an approximate price tag of $ 10 million. The Waterloo Region which governs this system Is now going through a Master Plan EA opti- mize existing systems, provide servicing into the future, while protecting the environment Bluewater mayor Bill Dowson said through the talks it was decided by this board this type of treat- ment plant- actually called a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR)would not work here. "Can this site as it handle the capacity? Thsfl said no. He added they would need to put in another lagoon in offsite where it could handle the sludge- they would also need additional storage and more land for filters. The quality of the effluent was also an issue that is harder to do with the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR). The plant proposed for Grand Bend is called a Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR ) Oxidation Ditch. "Additional land would be required and effluent quality would not meet the quality that was required by MOE If the New Hamburg (lagoon upgrade) process is used. The assumption is that all treatment system options would be sized to handle the same design flow," said Tasfl. The Sequencing Batch Reactor system (SBR) as biological treatment process. SBR is a process variation of the activated sludge treatment process. Activated sludge treatment process is the biologi- cal treatment stage of a treatment plant and includes treatment processes such as the proposed Orbal Biological Nutrient removal Oxidation ditch, Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), and Extended Aera- tion process. The SBR treatment process is fol- lowed by tertiary filtration for the New Hamburg plant. Tasfl said, "'Ihe New Hamburg (lagoon upgrade) treatment process was considered as an option. We also identified the need for additional lagoon for on-site sludge storage for the sludge that would be removed from the lagoon cells, plus additional land for new storage lagoon cells to provide increased storage capacity as this process has to store sewage for 120 days, new aerated lagoon ahead of the storage lagoons with a 4 to 6 days of storage time, and for sand filters, plus a process building." Sludge Dr. Tasfl said they have to deal with the sludge that is already in lagoons. This sludge has never been cleaned since the lagoons were built in 1979. Engineers have recommend to move to wetland for vegetation. The wetland can also be used for treatment and storage for the next 20-30 years. These are solutions so they don't need to ship sludge as this large quality would cost $ 1.7 million. "'Ihis is a saving plus we won't need sludge stabili- zation or storage- don't need to pay for tipping fees for disposal- no cost items for that went into the costs. '[hese are immediate savings that you won't have with other options;" said Tasfi. EAs Bluewater's Paul Klopp asked about flow rate looking at the 10-15 year mark of projected growth. Jim Dietrch, South Huron said it is difficult to talk numbers when they have not completed their Environtnental Assessments for the collec- tion systems. Tom Tomes said South Huron and Bluewater have more in common than Lambton Shores. He said with Dashwood and I lighway 83 questions- they won't know what's in and what's out until they do that. Tasfl said they have to look down the road In whatever decisions they make. He said they should not short change themselves for the 20 year servic- ing requirements. Future flows Lambton Shores councilor Doug Bonesteel asked about flow rates in the future. He asked if development changes for the three municipalities and South Huron wants more capacity. Tasfl said you can add more modulars as time goes on. South Huron mayor George Robertson was quick to inform Bonesteel you can only go up to the amount your have bought into. "You can't take from another municipality," he said, "You can go below, but not above." Seasonality was also discussed and dr. Tasfl cautioned this Board as the demographics could change and some seasonals could become full time residents. "You must use caution when using seasonal num- bers," said Tasfl. In the service area there are already have 8,000 people. Bluewater councilor George Irvin commented Latnbton Shores seasonal is going to increase to year round at a far greater rate than the Bluewater Lake- shore people. As in other meetings, Rowson said the study for the treatment plant was looking to the future. Weber explained the design is for year round- 12 month occupancy. Show me the numbers Irvin said Bluewater had been testing for I: -coli counts for a number of years. Ile asked what current restrictions are at the Grand Bend plant today. Tasfl said he only knows about Certificate of Approval information and that details no limit set. So, what amount of E -Coli pumped out now?" asked Irvin. 1 don't know said Tasfi. 'there are annual reports and OMI documents that. l dont want to guess at a number but it is well documented. Number you see here in these reports Is water qual- ity discharge." Irvin commented that if he had numbers to show the Bluewater people, it would help sell the reasons for this plant. Klopp also asked for the qual- ity of the water at the New Hamburg plant versus what is discharged from this plant. Ile said he wants to be able to tell the people of Bluewater that answer. "We need those numbers to compare:" The next meeting is scheduled for lune 13 at 9 a.m. at the Crediton Com- munity Centre. Pre -qualification tender -The Board members said to help make decisions as to how they will proceed, they needed to go ahead with the tender process on both options- full build out or phased in. 'Ihe deadline to stay in or pull out is Dec. 31 so they need actual costs. Pro- ceed under the agreement for costs. Robertson said they need this informa- tion to convince them one Way or another. They agreed to allow bidding on both options, "If we are going to look at it need to know the costs," said Rob- ertson. This tender process is for the treatment plant not the individual collection systems.