Sewage plant upgrade critical for Port Hope

Infrastructure
Sewage plant upgrade critical for Port Hope
$27 M project meets growing need

FRANK ARMSTRONG
correspondent
PORT HOPE
The Municipality of Port Hope is undergoing its largest ever capital project as it works toward completing a $27-million sewage plant upgrade by next year.
Peter Angelo, the municipality s director of engineering services, said the upgrade will double current capacity to 11,300 cubic metres per day.

Peter Angelo
It will incorporate the best technology available today to substantially improve our natural environment by eliminating potential bypass events and by achieving the highest performance levels and benchmarks set by the province, said Angelo.
Currently, the municipality bypasses raw sewage into Lake Ontario about 20 times per year during heavy precipitation.
Upgrade construction began last September on the site of the current sewage treatment plant.
The confined space and the need to prevent interruptions in service make the work challenging, said Angelo.
All concrete work is now underway by contractor North America Construction Ltd., which expects to hire up to 60 local tradespeople for the project.

AL WALSH
Crews do the first pour of the main slab for the two aerobic digesters for the $27 million Port Hope sewage treatment plant.
Basically, at this point we are constructing the aerobic digesters, final clarifiers, equalization tank for septage receiving station and the chlorine contact chamber it s basically all concrete work right now, Angelo said. This includes a mud slab, footings, main slab and foundation walls.
This will go on until this September probably, and then after that, the mechanical piping and equipment and above ground buildings will be started, he said.

The upgrade is critical for a number of reasons at the plant, which was built in 1956 and upgraded only once in 1973.
Steady growth within the municipality, coupled with substantial deterioration of the existing plant, has created a need for greater capacity, advanced treatment and environmentally-conscious management treatment of residuals.
The completed facility will treat collected waste water and hauled septage before clean and disinfected effluent is safely reintroduced to the environment as is required by provincial regulations.
The new plant, which is fully accessible for people with mobility challenges, will include an administration building, new screening and grit removal facilities, a new septage receiving station, a new biological treatment plant and a fully automated chlorination and dechlorinization system for disinfecting effluents.
Wastewater treatment residuals will be stabilized by aerobic digestion and the resulting bio-solids will be dewatered using centrifuges to produce soil-like material. It will be stored onsite over the winter until warmer weather allows for off-site disposal.
Construction of the upgrade is based on a 2001 wastewater treatment management review by KMK Consultants Limited, of Brampton, which is continuing to help Port Hope with contract administration and site supervision.
About $9.8 million of the cost is being paid by the provincial and federal governments while the rest will be covered through municipal development charges. Currently, builders pay about $11,000 in development charges to construct a new house in Port Hope.
Port Hope economic development officer Judy Selvig said the sewage treatment plant comes soon after a municipal water treatment facility upgrade.
Together, the two facilities will help encourage future growth in a community that is receiving an increasing number of inquiries from industrial and commercial investors, Selvig said.
Having the state-of-the-art water facility as well as the sewage treatment plant, it s a really good drawing factor for attracting industry, she said.

Additional information :

Sewage plant upgrade critical for Port Hope: from dcnonl.com