NORTH BATTLEFORD — There is a sand issue to be addressed at the intake of the F.E. Holliday water treatment plant in North Battleford.
Director of City Operations Stewart Schafer outlined the situation, as well as the plan to address it, at North Battleford’s council meeting Monday at Don Ross Centre.
“It’s currently right now very serious,” said Schafer. An RFP was sent out and the plan is to dig the sand out from the intake.
Council had been informed staff at the water treatment plant were having problems with the raw water intake structure this summer.
Divers were brought in, and following an inspection, the intake structure and raw water sewage pipe had to be cleaned, as it was filled with sand. The channel that was dredged back in 2015 was full of sand as well.
Following the mountain spring runoff at the start of August the issue came back, and they contacted the consulting firm SG1 to figure out what to do next. An RFP was then sent out on Sept. 9 and closed Sept. 15.
At council Monday, they were informed the only reply came from True Depth Diving and Marine Services Ltd.
After reviewing the costs, the plan is to excavate a total volume of 17,000 cubic metres. Divers would also be used to go in and clean the structure.
The cost comes to $76,952.18 plus GST, which council noted was a considerable amount but there was nothing cost-effective.
“There is no cheap option,” said Schafer.
The awarding of the RFP was approved unanimously by council Monday.
Prior to going ahead with the work, Schafer said they have submitted their applications to the Water Security Agency and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for approval prior to commencing work. Those approvals were expected to happen by the end of the week.
F.E. Holliday is one of two water treatment plants operated by the city, the other being Water Treatment Plant No. 1. No. 1 is a groundwater plant while F.E. Holliday is a surface water plant that takes its intake from the North Saskatchewan River.
During the meeting Schafer made clear the city could not run on No. 1 on its own, particularly in the summer when demand for water is particularly high.
