Lunenburg asks for review of wastewater treatment report

Town turns to Dillon Consulting Limited for guidance on new system

The Town of Lunenburg is looking for a second opinion to help decide the future of their wastewater treatment plant.

Council passed a motion at a Sept. 24 meeting to award Dillon Consulting Limited a contract to conduct a detailed review of a previous wastewater treatment plant report submitted in May.

The review will cost a total of $13,800 and will go over the design calculations, conceptual sizing and costing compared to the report originally submitted by CBCL Limited, an engineering consultant based in Halifax, on plans to improve the plant.

Due to performance issues with the plant’s current Moving Bed Bioreactor (MBBR), CBCL recommended that the town upgrade to a state-of-the-art membrane bioreactor (MBR) system — a project with a

$9.84-million price tag.

As per CBCL’S report, the MBR system was the most expensive option but also guaranteed the best effluent results.

Other options include maintaining the current system at a cost of $3.76 million or upgrading the MBBR to a more modern version to the tune of $7.33 million.

Sarah Ensslin, the CBCL process engineer who presented the report to council back in May, said the MBR system was the golden standard for wastewater treatment.

“It is significantly better than what’s required by the province right now,” she told the South Shore Breaker in a previous interview.

As per the council agenda, Dillon Consulting is expected to meet with town officials to discuss the review and will also be conducting an on-site tour of the plant.

The review is expected approximately three weeks upon completion of the tour and submission of background data.

But there’s little doubt that the plant is in need of serious investment.

Previous to damage resulting from Hurricane Dorian, CBCL’S report noted that sections of the wastewater treatment plant were heavily corroded and had led to a slip in performance.

The bioreactor tanks and several other pieces were highlighted as issues.

“Without a significant level of capital maintenance, the performance of the plant is likely to continue to drop until it no longer meets the effluent requirements,” warned the report.

And on Sept. 7, the plant was knocked out of commission by a storm surge during the hurricane which flooded the facility with seawater.

The town was forced to dump unfiltered sewage into both the front and back harbours for a number of weeks as staff worked to assess the damage.

As per the most recent update, all wastewater was being directed to the plant and partially treated before being dumped at the regular outfall.