Lessons learned after Halifax Harbour Solutions: Water Commission
Posted May 12, 2011 10:41:07 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Halifax Regional Water Commission told the the Utility and Review Board today it learned its lesson following the flooding of its Halifax plant in 2009.
HRWC is seeking approval for a $61,769,189 capital expenditure to expand and upgrade the Eastern Passage Wastewater Treatment Facility and the board wants to know what steps are being taken to avoid another sewage flooding.
“What safeguards, I guess, have you put into this one here so that we don’t end up in a similar situation?” questioned board member Kulvinder Dhillon, Thursday during the hearing.
“Should there be any catastrophic failure in the facility the water would bypass the facility versus staying within the facility and causing the types of damages we incurred in Halifax,” explained John MacPherson, counsel for HRWC.
It was pointed out that the proposed development for Eastern Passage is similar to the Halifax Wastewater Treatment Facility which flooded following a power outage and lead to sewage being pumped into Halifax Harbour.
HRWC itemized some of the enhancements to the design such as building the plant at a higher elevation and waterproofing parts of the plant which are at a lower elevation.
“Enhancements that really come from lessons learned and are built into the project requirements or the performance specifications,” said HRWC engineer Marcel Deveau.
Deveau said there are also several equipment redundancies in the plant so that in the event of a shutdown there would be less downtime.
