Blackport Hydrology Inc. and Triton Engineering Services Limited have received the nod from Erin council to go ahead with a water servicing environmental assessment.
The class EA proposal was considered by council at the April 21 meeting and accepted with an estimated cost of $404,580 plus HST – to be paid through town development charges.
The project is being completed to address some of the water system deficiencies identified in the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP).
The first stage of the class EA will involve evaluating existing information about water supply in the Town of Erin and consolidating all available information, research and reports to come up with the best possible options for an additional water supply, explained Ray Blackport of Blackport Hydrology Inc.
He said that Erin is now using wells seven and eight and the previous wells were shut down primarily due to water quality issues.
“So we know there are areas that aren’t very good for water. We know that areas we’re looking for they need good protection,” Blackport said.
Currently the villages of Erin and Hillsburgh each have two wells respectively but that isn’t enough for redundancy standards. Backport said there’s enough water on an average day, but if something happens to one well, currently there is only one additional well as a backup.
“It’s really important for the public to understand that we do have a water deficit,” said councillor Matt Sammut. “We have water but we don’t have enough redundancy of water so the reason we’re doing this is we have to do it.
“The Ministry of the Environment dictates you have to have redundancy in your wells in case one goes down with contamination or something, you have to have a backup.”
As the class EA moves through its three stages, potential well locations will be identified, test wells will be created and eventually permanent wells will drilled to fulfill the municipality’s water supply. Council, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Credit Valley Conservation authority will be consulted as the process moves forward, Ray explained.
Completed by 2016
Based on the report submitted to council, the preliminary project schedule estimates the water component of the class EA will be completed by the middle of 2016.
