The groundwork is being laid by Chatham-Kent’s public utilities commission to address the frequent impacts of heavy rain on the sewer system in the Tecumseh Park area of Chatham.
The groundwork is being laid by Chatham-Kent’s public utilities commission to address the frequent impacts of heavy rain on the sewer system in the Tecumseh Park area of Chatham.
A mandated annual report to the commission Thursday about water and wastewater system failures noted there were 46 non-compliance issues involving two pump stations for the Tecumseh Park area, where there are combined storm and wastewater sewers.
All but two overflow events with the storm sewer occurred during times of intense rain, the report noted.
“We’re working towards a solution,” said commission general manager Tim Sunderland.
He noted the public utilities commission and Chatham-Kent’s infrastructure and engineering department have identified the need to separate combined sewers in the Tecumseh Park area.
“We’re finding with the combined sewer, our discharges are just momentary discharges of a rain event,” he said. “We want to go after this area for sewer separation.”
During the meeting, the commission approved a $310,750 tender for RC Spencer Associated Inc. to do work in two phases, with the first including a detailed design, contraction administration and inspection services associated with the reconstruction of Stanley Avenue, William Street North and Colborne Street .
The report noted the second phase of the work involves general design, including sewer sizing and conceptual drawings for the entire Tecumseh Park catchment area, along with a plan for future phases of construction.
However, Sunderland noted this is multi-million dollar project that will need to be phased in over several years.
There are currently more than 40 kilometers of combined sewers, with the majority located in Chatham.
The public utilities commission has been working on replacing combined sewers over a number of years. The work is done in conjunction with other projects, such as upgrades to roads, curbs and sidewalks, so digging is only required once.