Strathroy-Caradoc Council is advancing efforts to address challenges at the Strathroy Wastewater Treatment facility. During this week’s meeting, councillors reviewed ongoing issues along with background information from recent years. The most pressing need involves twinning the lagoon system to ensure redundancy and allow repairs on the current lined lagoon.
Back in 2021, town staff recommended constructing a second lined lagoon similar to the existing one, identifying it as the lowest-cost solution. A consultant’s report from the same period outlined two additional construction approaches, but those alternatives were not presented to council at that time, leaving key options still unexamined.
Councillor Willsie introduced a motion directing the Director of Engineering to prepare a new report that includes revised costs based on 2021 figures, along with a thorough review of all available options and full life-cycle cost analysis.
This will allow council to weigh the original low-cost proposal against alternatives identified in the consultant’s report, as well as a fourth option: building a new concrete tank adjacent to the existing lagoon.
Council unanimously supported the motion, paving the way for a more informed decision.
From the report to Council:
The objectives of this technical memorandum are:
– To review the existing headworks building and the plant hydraulics issues and
propose upgrade alternatives.
– To propose and review the following three options to upgrade the biological
treatment and provide redundancy to the existing aerated lagoon.
The options are:
Option One – Add extended aeration tanks sized for the current average day flow (ADF) of 5,500 m3/d, with a plan to convert the WWTP to a conventional activated sludge (CAS) system with rated capacity of 10,000 m3 /d in the future.
Option Two – Add concrete extended aeration tanks for the plant rated capacity of 10,000 m3 /d.
Option Three – Utilize the existing south lagoon to build one new aerated lagoon for the plant rated capacity of 10,000 m3/day.
2. 205394 – Strathroy WWTP Upgrades – Detailed Design Report_With Appendices.pdf
Written by: C. Soares