HRM sewage treatment plants facing costly upgrades
Posted Mar 25, 2010 05:16:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A change in federal wastewater regulations will mean a huge bill for Halifax.
The federal government is ordering municipalities to improve water quality by upgrading their wastewater treatment systems.
HRM’s three big new sewage treatment plants aren’t even fully operational yet, and now they need upgrades.
James Campbell of Harbour Solutions says the three plants are currently classed as advanced primary treatment facilities.
“That removes about 70 percent of the suspended solids, that would be the fine screening,” he said. “Then we also have the bigger particles which will be screened out, the so-called floatables.”
The new rules will require upgrades within the next 20 to 30 years to what’s referred to as secondary treatment.
With 15 sewage treatment plants in HRM, Campbell says the upgrades will cost plenty.
“What I’ve been hearing is anywhere between 250 and 350 million to upgrade all the facilities in HRM,” said Campbell.
He says they hope the levels of government will split the cost – but if not it will fall on the city’s ratepayers to foot the bill.
