Council in Quinte West has approved moving forward on the Stonecrest Wastewater Treatment Plant project thanks to provincial funding.
Late last year, the city received notice they qualified for the Wastewater and Stormwater Management Funding Program to improve wastewater and stormwater discharges into Lake Ontario.
According to staff, Quinte West is eligible to receive $548,084 over two years. The funds must be used to make improvements to municipal wastewater and stormwater systems through projects which would lower phosphorus discharges from municipal wastewater and stormwater, reduce the likelihood of sewage outflows and bypasses, and improve the quality of stormwater discharges.
Staff believe addressing existing concerns with the Stonecrest Wastewater Treatment Plant would benefit from this provincial funding and council should go ahead with this project.
The project would include moving membranes indoors for improved maintenance and cleaning ability, replacement of the membranes for improved performance, installation of an additional screen/compactor, the reconfiguration of existing in ground concrete tankage for improved process control and a new outdoor generator and new sludge storage tank.
The project has a total price tag of $1.5 million with the provincial portion covering $548,084 and Quinte West being responsible for $951,916 of the project. Currently there is $600,000 budgeted for the replacement of the membrane modules. The additional cost of $351,916 would come from wastewater reserves.
Council unanimously approved going ahead with the program funding to begin the project.
