With Sundre's council discussing recently how to deal with "leaks" and "infiltration," one might wonder if a matter of international mystery, intrigue, double agents and treason was unfolding in our humble community.
But at the heart of the matter are actually problems with the municipality's aging underground water and sewage infrastructure. Treated water that is distributed throughout the community is being lost at a cost to the town through unidentified leaks in pipes, effectively wasting potable water, council heard during its March 27 meeting.
Elected officials were informed that the town is experiencing a 50-55 per cent treated water loss underground from leaking infrastructure. Interim chief administrative officer Al Harvey told council that percentage should be no higher than two to three per cent. With this rate of treated water leakage, the treatment facility must process double the amount of water to serve the town's needs, he added.
"Your plant is now therefore working very, very hard to overproduce," said Harvey.
Meanwhile, otherwise clean, natural underground water is infiltrating its way into the local wastewater system, entering a biologically contaminated pipeline. This creates an additional burden for the sewage treatment facility by significantly reducing its overall capacity as well as impacting the lagoon's ability to break down effluent because of dilution caused by clean water, he said.
"At this point in time, what we're looking at is a camera to be able to get a better understanding of the infiltration. Once you've got the better understanding of infiltration, it's a matter of trying to limit or reduce that infiltration, and as you do that, hopefully you can extend the operation of your lagoon, as well as the life of the lagoon."
Coun. Chris Vardas asked for clarification regarding the difference between the recommended camera and another unit the municipality already owns.
"It does require three staff to look after the existing camera," said Angie Lucas, director of planning and operations.
"So often, it's not used because they don't have time for three of them to get together and focus solely on this one task because they're all over the place doing other things," she explained.
"That's been a holdup, and our engineering consultant really needs this information."
The issue of leaks and infiltration in the municipality's water and wastewater systems is not new to councilólast year officials found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place when they had to deny connecting services to the east side because of capacity concerns.
However, there has to date been no effective means of identifying problematic pipes that should be either repaired or outright replaced.
"This data is required to have more accurate capital plans," said Lucas.
The method used to locate leaks ó physically inspecting the ground in the middle of the night in the hopes of hearing water bubbling up ó has been labour intensive and very costly in the past. That approach is also far from definitive, which results in a lack of accuracy that can end up costing even more for repairs, council heard.
"Right now, it's a lot of guesswork. That can lead to a lot of wasted time, and more importantly, a lot of wasted money if you're not doing the right sections of road and the right pipes at the right time," said Lucas.
"We have to have the data a lot faster than we're getting it now."
Ultimately, all the underground pipes will need to be replaced, but at a cost of roughly $1 million per block, such a massive expense is beyond the municipality's ability to tackle all at once, she said.
"So we need to be very, very structured and prioritize our maintenance of water and wastewater (infrastructure repairs)."
The equipment recommended by administration will facilitate efforts to identify pipes that most urgently need to be repaired or replaced, council heard.
"But without knowing where your problem is first, then you don't know where to do your digging," said Harvey.
However, one giveaway sign that can easily be observed by the naked eye is the condition of a street's surface, he said.
"On a roadway that has more patches than asphalt, it's time to change that line."
Vardas said obtaining equipment to better identify problem pipes is a great idea, but the councillor was curious to know whether it would have a limited life expectancy.
"We don't foresee that being a problem," said Lucas.
"It's not a piece of equipment that's going to be under a huge amount of stress, or is going to be damaged."
The recommended equipment for treated water lines collects data on water flow and pressure between two points on a length of pipe, which in turn identifies where there are issues if the average levels are way off, she said.
The camera for wastewater infrastructure provides a visual on the lines' interiors to spot holes, obstructions or other potential problems.
Council unanimously carried two motions ó one to approve funding not to exceed $15,500 for the purchase of a water leak system to identify problems with the treated water system, as well as another to buy at a maximum cost of $20,000 an infiltration inspection camera to locate issues with wastewater pipes.
The cost will mostly be covered by the municipality's water and wastewater reserve, which at the end of the 2016 fiscal year-end was sitting at a little more than $1 million. The vast majority of those funds have already been earmarked for major projects such as the impending upgrades to the sewage lagoon. But about $135,000 of the reserve remains unallocated. About $10,000 had previously been budgeted for the new equipment, leaving the remaining balance of roughly $25,000 to be covered by the reserve, Vic Pirie, director of finance and administration, told the Round Up.
Coun. Verna McFadden wondered whether the equipment might be shared with other municipalities.
"We might be able to rent it out," said Lucas, adding that renting it from a consultant was cost-prohibitive.
"This technology is going to be needed by multiple municipalities that have failing infrastructure."
