Centre Wellington council took time this week to celebrate completion of the construction phase of the Elora wastewater plant.
In 2012, the Township of Centre Wellington began the construction phase to upgrade and expand the Elora Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the Clyde Street Sewage Pumping Station (SPS).
The township, Triton Engineering Services Limited and Wellington Construction Contractors Inc. announced on Tuesday that this phase of the project is now complete.
The Clyde Street SPS pumps all of the sewage generated by the Elora and Salem urban centre to the WWTP. Upgrades to the SPS include replacement of the raw sewage pumps to increase the peak flow capacity by 53% to 173 litres per second and improved operational efficiency.
In addition, the wet well has been reconfigured to virtually eliminate the requirement for operators to enter the well for routine maintenance.
The provision of higher-capacity pumps and a larger diesel generator minimize the potential for raw sewage by-passes to the Grand River, officials say.
The plant’s average daily flow capacity has increased from 3,066 to 5,000 cubic metres to permit continued growth in the community.
The process components utilized at the facility, including filtration and ultra-violet light disinfection, have substantially improved the quality of the treated effluent discharged to the Grand River and have eliminated the use of chlorine for disinfection.
To continue the practice of resource recovery, the facility utilizes the Lystek biosolids stabilization process to produce a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) registered liquid fertilizer for agricultural land application.
The facility is also equipped with state-of-the-art odour control equipment to minimize the potential for odours leaving the site and standby power generation to ensure that continuous treatment occurs during a power outage.
“Council and I are excited for the new EWWTP to be completed with all of the latest technologies in waste water filtration,” said Mayor Kelly Linton. “This project supports our community’s commitment for environmentally sound planning and development. As mayor I would also like to thank the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for their financial support of this project in Centre Wellington.”
Open houses
The township is hosting two open houses on May 23 to celebrate National Public Works Week.
Join township staff at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex in Fergus between 10am and noon to view a variety of heavy equipment and machinery.
Take the opportunity to sit behind the steering wheel of a grader or a snowplow and have your questions answered by staff.
The new Elora Wastewater Treatment facility is offering tours at 10am, 11am and noon.
Space is limited and participants are required to reserve a tour time in advance by contacting Karen at kmcmillan@centrewellington.ca or 519-846-9691 ext. 359. Tours are limited to ages 8 and older.
