Stewiacke firm wins bid to build Pictou water plant

A Stewiacke company will be building the Town of Pictou’s new water treatment plant.

Kyle Slaunwhite, project manager for the town, recommended during Monday’s meeting that council accept the lowest bid of $3.1 million from L and R Construction to construct a new water treatment plant off of Wellington Street.

Five companies bid on the project and L and R Construction’s bid came in $1 million under budget. This is the same company that built the town’s wastewater plant at Brown’s Point.

Council asked if problems with the wastewater treatment plant were due to the construction of the building, but Slaunwhite said the wastewater plant had more design issues than anything else.

The town recently reached a settlement agreement with three different companies over design issues and the last piece in the puzzle to be corrected is the heating and ventilation system at its wastewater plant.

The town had tendered the new redesign and it recommended to council that the contract be awarded to EastPoint for the cost of $18,677. The total budget for construction of the new system is estimated at nearly $90,000.

CBCL Limited submitted the design tender for a new water treatment plan in the town for a cost of $425,000.

A $5 million water treatment plant will take care of high manganese and iron levels as well as low water pressure. It is the second of a two-phase upgrade for water in the town. This phase involves designing and constructing a centralized water treatment plant to remove concentrations of iron and manganese. Reduction chambers and boosting stations will also be installed in the distribution system to balance pressure during periods of peak demand.

Pictou’s existing water distribution system draws directly from groundwater wells that contain high levels of naturally occurring iron and manganese. Due to low water pressure of the town’s distribution system and the reaction of iron and manganese with chlorine disinfectants, these contaminants have settled and accumulated in the distribution pipes.

The project will significantly improve the treatment and distribution of drinking water for Pictou residents and businesses.