North Glengarry Township is looking at a massive bill to upgrade its water and sewage systems in Alexandria if the municipality is to manage growth and prevent flooding.
Council has been presented with options ranging from $5 million to over $8 million to improve the services.
“There are limitations at the Alexandria Water Treatment Plant for servicing future growth,” reads a report submitted by Marco Vincelli, vice-president of EVB Engineering, whose firm also evaluated Alexandria’s sanitary sewer system and its ability to manage planned future growth. Teams have recently been seen completing closed circuit television inspections of sewers to identify possible leaks in the system and any sources of Infiltration/Inflow (I/I).
The current Permit to Take Water Restriction means the Alexandria WTP can service an additional 734 lots. However, to be able to meet the planned growth in North Glengarry of up to 1,370 new lots, a Water Balance Study will need to be completed to ensure the increased capacity of water usage will not impact the Loch Garry system. Currently, the water usage is estimated at 350 litres per day at an average of 2.7 people per household.
Infiltration/Inflow take up space in the wastewater collection system and at the Alexandria sewage treatment lagoons. Infiltration means surface and groundwater are entering the system through defective or broken pipes. Inflow is where surface or groundwater are entering the sanitary sewer system by inappropriate connections such as sump pumps or downspouts.
EVB Engineering created a sanitary sewer system model for Alexandria to monitor the flow at critical junctures for sewer capacity and compare the flow to precipitation amounts. Through this model, EVB has discovered that there are sections of the sewer system already over capacity and in need of attention within two years, with particular concern to portions of the Bishop Street wastewater system.
EVB Engineering offered both long-term and short-term options to balance the new growth while alleviating the pressure on the Bishop Street collection station. Short-term options are to locate where the Infiltration/Inflow might be occurring, grout and seal manholes, complete cast-in-place pipe lining into aging or damaged pipes and make sure downspouts and sump pumps are not connected to the system. Long-term solutions are to increase the size of the sewer pipes, complete pumping station upgrades, replace any failed sewers or manholes as needed and build a force main north of Alexandria, adjacent to the railway tracks, to convey wastewater to the lagoons east of town.
In Alexandria, water is collected from Mill Pond, which is fed by the Loch Garry/Garry River system and treated. With new development planned in Alexandria, there are limitations at the WTP for servicing future growth. According to provincial policies, municipalities are required to ensure sewage and water services have an acceptable quantity and quality and that plans for the proper collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater are in place. Development and growth must be managed to foster environmentally healthy communities providing public services and infrastructure.
