Construction upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plan on Government Road will begin in late April to help meet the demands of a growing community and maintain compliance with Federal and Provincial wastewater treatment regulations, District says.
Construction is planned to begin in late April 2022 and continue through to September 2023. The upgrades will increase treatment capacity, provide system redundancy, increase seismic and flood resiliency, improve plant performance and effluent quality, while decreasing biosolids production and associated energy usage, carbon emissions and handling costs.
The District had allotted $10 million to the upgrades in the 2022 Financial Plan, with funding coming from Development Cost Charges (DCCs) and Reserves.
“Our commitment to investment in critical infrastructure is steadfast as we strive not only to keep up with the growth of our community, but to also mitigate the effects of our changing climate,” says District of Squamish Mayor Karen Elliott. “These upgrades are of even greater importance to ensure our critical services are resilient and withstand extreme weather events today and into the future.”
The major upgrade works include:
Construction of a new secondary clarifier and concentric ring bioreactor. By sharing the same centre construction, these two processing tanks will be able to perform the secondary treatment of wastewater (the bioreactor creates an activated sludge process that uses aeration and bacteria to treat wastewater) as well as the clarification process (which separates solids and scum to prepare wastewater for UV treatment) while minimizing space requirements at the plant;
Conversion of an old clarifier tank into a primary clarifier to optimize existing infrastructure, reduce biosolids production and aeration energy and create ongoing value from old infrastructure throughout its remaining useful life
New septage receiving station (used for septic systems from Squamish and recreational sites along the Sea to Sky corridor and Electrical and control system upgrades.
Donald Patrick says
Good news and not a mystery, every new ASS that moves to Squamish has a future cost to all and this is just another cost item that comes with growth.