Sackville water treatment capacity fix means diverting up to $40k from sewage lagoon fund
Tantramar council will be considering some more unplanned spending in the Sackville water utility, which could end up diverting up to $40,000 from reserve funds meant for the eventual upgrading of Sackville’s sewage lagoons.
Public works manager Jon Eppell told council Monday that three water pumps which push untreated water through the filtration system at the water treatment plant are underperforming, putting the town at risk of potential shortages in Sackville’s treated water supply.
“Our production has been challenged for the last year plus,” said Eppell. “We were not managing to treat enough water, or as quickly as we were expecting.”
After investigating a number of possible causes for the lack of capacity, three nearly-30-year-old pumps were identified as operating “in some cases, at perhaps less than 50% of the expected efficiency,” said Eppell.
The three low lift pumps take turns pushing untreated water from a large tank under the building through the water filters in the treatment system. From there, water is chlorinated and then goes into a treated water tank and is available for use by the town’s water customers.
Eppell says the three pumps were all installed in 1997, and haven’t seen any refurbishment since then.
The lack of efficiency has affected how much treated water is available in Sackville, which Eppell said is a potential problem, especially when there is high demand for water.… Continue
Council to consider hiring Veolia to take on Dorchester water as well as Sackville
Town engineer Jon Eppell is recommending that Tantramar expand its contract with Veolia Water Technologies to include the operation of the Dorchester water treatment plant. Tantramar council will consider the proposal at its regular meeting tonight at 7pm in Sackville town hall.
At council’s committee of the whole meeting in July Eppell said a request for a change in position from the current staff person operating the Dorchester plant prompted the town to explore the outsourcing of the service.
“We went to Veolia who we’re all very familiar with in Sackville,” said Eppell. The global water treatment company has been operating the Sackville plant since 2007, and it also operates the Moncton water treatment system.
The Dorchester contract would cost the town an additional $2000 per week, or $104,000 per year, with additional costs for overtime and emergency services. There will also be about $12,000 in technological upgrades for Veolia to take over the Dorchester system. Tantramar currently pays about $245,000 annually for the Sackville Veolia contract.
The Veolia contract amount is not currently budgeted, but a staff report says the funds will come from “salary savings within the Dorchester portion of the Utility Budget,” for 2023, and then will be budgeted accordingly in 2024. Overall, this will be an increase in utility expenses, as the staff person currently operating the plant will be reassigned to other utility duties.… Continue