Three Rivers sewer plant upgrade will cost nearly $1M, says deputy mayor

Thesewer system in Three Rivers, P.E.I., is in need of an upgrade that could cost the town close to a million dollars.

Currently, the town ages waste for a set period of time to cut down on the smell.The waste then undergoes a process called dewatering, which separatessolid material from liquid.

The water is treated and some of the other material is pumped through tubes,called geo-tubes, into a specially designed bag for composting, said Debbie Johnston, deputy mayor of Three Rivers and chair of the water and sewer commission.

Another tank needs to be added to hold the wastebefore it is pumped into the tubes, something thatwon't come cheap, said Johnston.

"The first price we've got quoted was about $650,000 but, that was back in 2018. Of course costs have gone up," she said.

"It will come in under a million dollars, but probablyclose to a million dollars for a new tank and everything that's needed," she said.

The plant, which sits in the former town of Montague, has been around since the 1970s but the geo-tube system was installed in 2015. This kind of problem isn't uncommon for this system, said Johnston.

There's no odour problem, there's nothing backing up, it's just an issue with sludge dewatering. Debbie Johnston

"We've had plant staff visit a number of locations in the Maritimes that are operating this system the geo-tube system in a very similar plant to the one we have, which is a mechanical plant, and they are encountering very similar problems," she said.

So far, $429,000 has been allocated in the town's capital budgetfor the upgrade,said Johnston.

Johnston said it's unlikely that residents will notice the problem.

"There's no odour problem, there's nothing backing up, it's just an issue with sludge dewatering and you know the plant is operating the same as it always is. But we do need to fix this issue," said Johnston.

Johnston said before the town expands the services provided by the plant to other areas, this issue needs to be fixed.

"I guess there'sexpectations that the Montague water and sewer existing plant can service a wider area. So, we'd have to sit down and talk about that," she said.

"It depends on where the serviceis to go so that'sall in the future, but we need to deal with this problem first."

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