Treatment plant upgrade progressing

The construction company located out of the Valley was well into the foundation of the chambers for the Dissolved Air Flow Floatation (DAF) system but Mayor P.G. Comeau spotted a problem right off the bat.

"The wall isn't straight," he said, "if I knew they were to do such a bad job I would have done it myself."

When the foundation is completed, it will be filled with water to test whether leaks exist.

The expected completion date is for the end of March.

Mayor Comeau explained that the project was a necessary one but also costly considering only 10% of the residents run on town water and 90% draw from well water.

High amounts of THMs a cancer causing agent have been found in the water forcing the town to make the change.

During certain times of year when a higher level of debris such as dead leaves in fall mix with the chlorine treated water, the THM level will increase.

The new DAF system treats the water coming from Lake Rodney removing colour, algae and turbidity not exceeding 100 NTU.

A coagulant or thinner added to the raw water precipitates dissolved contaminants, which form "floccs". Agitation in the system makes them grow before they pass into the flotation zone of the DAF system.

Once there, microscopic air bubbles force the floccs of contaminants to rise to the surface and the accumulated float is skimmed off.

The clarified water is then passed through a filter for final polishing.