WELLINGTON NORTH – A report required by the province and prepared by the Ontario Clean Water Agency for the township states there were no bypass events, overflows, spills, abnormal discharges, or community complaints between Oct. 1 and May 31 at the Arthur wastewater treatment plant.
A bypass event would occur if raw or partially-treated sewage was discharged into the Conestogo River.
According to the report, the average daily inflow was around 77.75 per cent of the plant’s designed capacity.
Highest flow in February
“The highest recorded monthly average daily flow was in February … and was due to heavy rain and increased inflows from the seasonal melt. The total precipitation for February was highest for the reporting period based on data from Environment Canada,” states the report.
According to township operations director Matthew Aston, an equalization tank built at the plant has enabled the plant to better handle significant weather events without flushing sewage through the system faster than it can be treated.
“That was an area where in the past, if we were talking five years ago, there were occasions where we would experience a bypass during a heavy rain event, but with that equalization tank we’re able to weather the storm in literal terms a lot better than we used to be able to,” Aston said.
