OXBOW - The Town of Oxbow recently completed important upgrades to its water lagoon.
The Observer talked with Oxbow chief administration officer Lisa Pierce, who provided some details.
“With a population of 1,328, the Oxbow lagoon was deemed to only be operating at 15 per cent capacity, and the system did not meet any legislated discharge criteria resulting in new development in the area being suspended by the Water Security Agency.
“To solve this problem, the municipality installed a submerged attached growth reactor (SAGR) system in 2021. The installation is the only single cell, shallow facultative lagoon in Western Canada to be converted to an aerated cell upstream of a SAGR system while maintaining the geometry of the existing cell.”
“With a price tag of $4,612,900, 60 per cent of the funding was obtained through ICIP (Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program), which is 40 per cent federally and 33 per cent provincially funds, and the remainder through FCM (Federal Canadian Municipalities) Green Fund, consisting of $237,413 in grant funds and $1,549,339 in a low-interest loan to be paid over 10 years.
“Planning for these costs since 2018 means that taxes and utility rates will not increase due to the project. The SAGR system also allows the town to approach the expansion in such a way that the existing footprint is decreased by nearly 40 per cent while the capacity is increased well into projections for population is 2035.
“Economically, the placement of a lift station that is accessible in town and replacement of force main with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) is roughly half the cost of replacing the gravity main in the future and provides the opportunity to accept and treat more wastewater from external sources on a user-pay system.
“Treating an additional 90,000 m3/year (cubic metres) of wastewater will provide the municipality with potential business and job growth linked to new development as well.”
Cannington MLA Daryl Harrison recently visited the site and greatly appreciated the completion of the project, along with the federal and provincial funding.
