ATHABASCA – While the $5-million upgrade to the Aspen Regional Water Services Commission’s raw water pumphouse is realizing some of the intended performance improvements that were hoped for, there are still problems filtering out the abundant amount of sand that comes along with water from the Athabasca River.
Sand build-up is still a significant issue and further testing on the intake line from the river will be needed, Coun. Dave Pacholok told Athabasca town council during the Oct. 18 regular meeting while delivering his report from the commission, which he chairs.
Divers were sent down to inspect the intake pipe at the end of September and found nothing wrong with the new screen but weren’t able to drone it because of a restricted airline inside the larger intake pipe that is used to blow out the screen. Later this month, that airline will be removed, and the investigation will continue, Pacholok said.
“There’s nothing matter with the screen but there is still too much sand coming through and debris that really shouldn’t be coming through a new system like we have,” he said. “The whole idea of the new system was to eliminate a lot of the issues with the old system, and it hasn’t worked as we had hoped, so we’re hoping badly that there’s something wrong with the pipe itself — maybe a gasket that’s leaking.”
Prior to the upgrade, a vacuum truck was hired to clear a blockage in the intake pipe that was putting the water supply at risk. It needed to reach 450 feet out into the river.
Mayor Rob Balay, who also sits on the commission, noted the project was still a significant upgrade and overall has been very effective, and it would be a different story with a different river
“It’s still effective. We move a lot more water up there than we did, it’s just that it’s going to be a lot more costly removing the sand,” Balay said, adding that at this time of year, it is actually less of a problem than during high water. “One of the things the new intake does allow for is we can pump a lot of water quickly, so we can let our reservoir come down more when water is high and then fill it more quickly when it's lower.”
That sediment works its way through the entire system, causing additional wear and tear to the pumps and machinery that send water to the reservoir at the water treatment plant. It accumulates there, leading to the expense of having the reservoir dredged more often.
“There’s just a whole gamut of issues we have with the amount of debris we have coming through,” said Pacholok.
The ARWSC, which is made up of members from the Town of Athabasca, Athabasca County and Village of Boyle, worked for years to secure the grant funding to make upgrades to the pumphouse a reality but by the time that funding was realized, the cost of the project increased by $2 million over the original $2.7 million price tag. Including engineering costs, the new cost came out to $5.17 million.
The municipalities had to act quickly to make sure the project could be started on time in the summer of 2021. The town, which accounts for 63 per cent of water usage, ended up borrowing just under $1.3 million; while the county had to come up with $324,412 for its 17 per cent; and the village borrowed $373,073 for its 20 per cent portion.
During his report, Pacholok also reported the third pump, which shorted-out in the pumphouse is still being repaired, while repaving of the Rotary Trail adjacent to the facility is still scheduled for late fall. In addition, he said an overhead crane was also installed over and around the outside wet well, which thieves recently tried to steal, but were unable to remove it from its frame.
He also noted that financials for the year are still on track with the budget, but lower water sales may indicate an upcoming shortfall in revenue, while the cost of chemicals, power and gas continue to rise.
