ATHABASCA - The Town of Athabasca can cross another of this year’s capital projects off the list as the $100,000 aerator diffuser and float/sink replacement in Cell #1 at the wastewater treatment facility is now complete.
Utilities supervisor Terry Kosinski told town council the good news at the Nov. 1 regular meeting, saying the project is now complete, but the longstanding problem of trash in the sewer clogging up the system remains.
Hopefully the replacement of the float/sink system that is well into its second decade will help alleviate that problem, said Kosinski.
“I’m beating a dead horse about garbage in the sewer,” he said in response to Coun. Edie Yuill who wanted to know how often the diffusers are inspected for trash blockages upon seeing the pictures of the old system included in council’s information package.
The pictures showed the float/sink system that was pulled out of the lagoon, strewn with material disposed of into Athabasca’s thousands of toilets, made its way through the system of pipes that lead to the wastewater treatment facility, could not be processed, clogged diffusers and contributed to inefficiencies in the old system and cost manhours of town employees who had to maintain and repair as needed.
“The main line of that diffuser was sunk down into the sludge of the pond and that design was really easy for that trash to get caught in those diffusers. So, in June or July when we decide to raise them up to clean them, I bet I could raise them up a month later and they would be like that again,” said Kosinski, adding how that continued amount of trash will affect the new system remains to be seen.
Coun. Jon LeMessurier asked how long the new system is expected to last.
Kosinski replied the system that was replaced was installed in 2010, and he hoped the new system would last even longer.
“I hope we can get another 10 or 15 years of this, installed. It's an improved design; a little bit more, in my opinion, of a robust diffuser. So hopefully we get 10 to 15 years out of that, maybe more,” said Kosinski.
Mayor Rob Balay added previous designs lasted a lot longer than that.
“It was a different design on the old ones, and they lasted a lot more than 10 years before we did a major overhaul. Ten years was a little disappointing on this design, but I mean we won't know until we know,” he said.
The town, like all municipalities, spends a significant amount on water and wastewater infrastructure and maintenance every year.
The 2022 capital budget assigned a total of $250,000 to sewage infrastructure with $100,000 going towards the aerator diffuser and float/sink replacement and $150,000 going towards an electrical replacement at the sewage lift station. Both expenses came from town reserves.
The 2021 capital budget assigned $456,000 for six different projects which included a sanitary main re-lining for $200,000 and a couple aeration header replacements, which came from Municipal Sustainability Initiative, federal gas tax, and town reserve funds.
Don’t flush
The town has struggled to convey the message to residents, embarking on multiple messaging campaigns throughout the years to no avail.
Simply, there are very few things that are supposed to be flushed into the sewer system. Do not flush wipes (baby, facial, hand or otherwise), even those marked flushable (they are not); menstrual products; cleaning rags; diapers; condoms; hair; cotton swabs, cotton balls, or Q-tips; paper towels; facial tissues; or dental floss.
