February 2, 2011
Town applies for
funding for water loop
by Vance Gutzman
Here we go loop de loop,
but where will that loop lie?
Well, preferably along Banting and McElligott Drives, according to the
engineering firm Deep River has tasked with solving long-running
problem of long-running water in the town's east end.
For some time now, drinking water has been discharged from a dead end
watermain on Banting Drive, near the hospital.
While that has resulted in a significant amount of loss from the town's
water system, and has also led to problems with how to dispose the
water that's being flushed onto the ground, the discharging has also
been necessary to meet chlorine levels mandated by the Ministry of
Environment (MOE).
Maintaining the proper chlorine residuals is hampered by the fact the
watermain comes to a dead end, and the water inside can stagnate to the
point where the chlorine residuals fall below the MOE specs.
"That's a situation any municipality wants to avoid," town council was
told by Joe Janota, of Jp2g Consultants Inc.
"We're dealing with a hospital here, so it's particularly important."
Exacerbating the situation is the fact most of the watermains in that
area are more than 50 years old, constructed from cast-iron piping and
are in poor condition.
The accumulated build-up of biofilm in the old pipes adds to the
difficulties of maintaining proper chlorine residuals.
Discharging the water keeps the water in the dead end line flowing,
thereby preventing it from stagnating and losing its chlorine residuals.
But the town can't simply keep discharging the water forever, and Jp2g
says the best solution for the town would be to install a watermain
loop that would be routed southerly along Banting, and then west along
McElligott Drive, where it would connect to the existing distribution
system at the intersection of Golf Course Road and Glendale Avenue.
The construction of such a loop will not serve as a panacea.
While computer modelling undertaken by Jp2g shows that the loop would
increase chlorine concentrations at the hospital, it would not reach
optimum MOE target levels, and the chlorine levels would have to be
monitored on a regular basis.
Nor would the watermain loop be a perfect solution for low flow rates.
"The existing water system is not capable of supplying adequate amount
of water in the event of a major fire at the Deep River Hospital,”
Jp2g's report to council states.
"The proposed watermain loop would help to alleviate this deficiency
situation."
The available water flow rate currently available at the hospital for
fire-fighting purposes is 53 litres per second - well below the desired
flow rate of 160 litres per second.
Construction of the 250 mm diameter watermain loop would increase that
pressure to 74.1 litres per second.
The only way to meet the desired rate of 160 litres per second would be
to run the watermain loop all the way back to the water tower, but that
would cause chlorine residuals to fall below the levels that are
allowed by the MOE, due to low turnover of the water itself in the loop.
The only way the longer loop could be implemented would be to have some
other demand on the line, other than the hospital, to ensure the full
turnover of water in the pipe.
Even with the proposed, shorter, loop, Jp2g is estimating the cost of
the project to come in at $590,000, plus HST.
Upon hearing Jp2g's presentation, council authorized its chief
administrative officer, Michelle Larose, to apply for funding under the
Ontario Small Waterworks Assistance Program (OSWAP).
If the town is successful in its grant application, it would only have
to pick up one-third of the project's cost.
"It's not a commitment," Mayor David Thompson cautioned.
"It's an application. If there is no funding, it will make this a lot
tougher."
But having the watermain loop running down McElligott Drive would also
make it a lot easier for the town to promote new development in that
area, especially if consideration is given to Councillor Chris
Carroll's suggestion that the town might want to consider installing
sewer lines in parallel with the watermain.
"Clearly on McElligott we don't have those services in place,” Thompson
said.
"Having these services in place would make development there
significantly more feasible."
And while council unanimously agreed to start feeling out the watermain
loop project, by seeing first whether it can get the OSWAP funding,
Councillor Ron Desrochers did not agree with the route Jp2g was
proposing.
"I know a lot of engineers in town," Desrochers said.
"We have a couple of very experienced engineers right here in front of
us, my friend," Thompson countered, referring the Jp2g delegation.
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