The bottom image shows the proposed alignment with the new lift station on part of the present triangle. (True Consulting)
Local residents learned about the replacement of the town’s main sewage lift station with a new one costing more than $4.5 million at an open house last Thursday.
The current station, at Legion Beach, was first built in 1972 and is at the end of its life. It pumps sewage up to lagoons at the golf course.
In 2000, it was upgraded with bigger and stronger pumps, but these are now 18 years old, said Jim Dinwoodie, Town of Osoyoos director of operational services (public works).
“They’ve pretty much reached the end of their lives,” said Dinwoodie. “The new lift station and the pumps that we’re putting in are new, they’re modern and they’re much more efficient.”
They use less power and the town’s maintenance department will be able to maintain them, unlike the old pumps that required an outside contractor, he said.
The work, which starts in September, involves reconfiguring the intersection at Kingfisher Drive and 89th Street and moving the lift station away from the beach.
Instead of the present triangle intersection, the approach off Kingfisher will be a T-intersection. The new lift station will be located on part of the present triangle.
Dinwoodie said the new station will have a better odour control system and it will also remove solid debris rather than pumping it up to the lagoons.
The cost of the project is expected to cost between $4.5 and $5.5 million, which the town is going to have to cover unless it is able to obtain provincial or federal grants, Dinwoodie said.
“We were unsuccessful with the numerous government grants that we applied for, but we keep asking,” he said. “I suspect we will have to pony this up ourselves, so the town will have to borrow some money to pay for this whole thing.”
Dinwoodie suspects the town was denied grants only because the programs were oversubscribed.
About 10 local residents attended the open house, but only one voiced objections. He didn’t like the location and thought the town should engage another engineering firm, but he didn’t suggest an alternate location.
Because the new lift station will be close to the old one, it will use the same pipes to receive sewage and carry it to the lagoons.
Dinwoodie said the new location is at the edge of the 200-year floodplain and the floods this year wouldn’t have affected it.
The new station also has 100 per cent redundancy, so if a pump fails, another kicks in and so raw sewage wouldn’t flow into the lake.
It’s designed to last for about 40 years and could handle a population of double the current size of Osoyoos, Dinwoodie said.
“The old one is on its last legs,” he said. “In order for bad things not to happen, I think this is the best design that we can come up with. It will blend in nice with the environment, with the neighbourhood.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
This image shows the present road alignment as viewed from Kingfisher Drive approaching 89th Street, with the present lift station at left. (True Consulting)
