Water Reclamation Facility will produce high quality effluent and achieve LEED certification

Construction of Water Reclamation Facilities fast-tracked to meet growth needs

Installation of equipment into Secondary Clarifiers

Testing of Bioreactors

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo retained Associated Engineering in November 2003 as Project Manager for the New Fort McMurray Water Reclamation Facility (WRF). The project involves the construction of a new facility which will reclaim the City of Fort McMurray’s wastewater and return it to the environment with improved effluent quality. To address the significant growth in Fort McMurray and new operating license requirements, the existing aerated sewage lagoons must be replaced with a tertiary WRF.

Demonstrating leadership in environmental design, the Water Reclamation Facility will strive to achieve Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) Certification from the Green Building Council. The plant will use Biological Nutrient Removal Technology and will have a composting facility to further reduce its environmental footprint. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo plant will be unique in Canada as one of the few LEED certified wastewater facilities.

The project is separated into three phases. Phase 1 of the WRF facility will serve 85,000 people with a capacity of 33 million litres per day. Construction completion is scheduled for early 2009. Phase 2 is designed to serve 100,000 people and will be completed in mid 2009. Phase 3 will serve 133,000 people, with a capacity of 52 million litres per day.

“One of the major challenges for this project was defining the population forecasts for such a dynamic and growing city”, advises Project Manager Herb Kuehne. “Recent population census results confirm that the population is increasing much faster than originally projected.” Based on increased population growth rates, Phase 1 capacity of 85,000 persons will be reached in 2009, (nearly tripling the population in less than ten years), and was originally projected to be reached in 2015. As a result, the Phase 2 expansion was fast-tracked for completion in 2009.

In addition to addressing the increased population in Fort McMurray, the new plant will handle the increase in trucked sewage, much of which is from industrial construction camps. Wastewater from truck haul has more than tripled since 2004, adding an equivalent population of 16,000 to 20,000 people. The impact of wastewater trucking is significant, not only on the existing mechanical aerated lagoons, but also on the design assumptions made regarding the total volume of wastewater hauled to the new WRF. Herb tells us, “The project is on budget and on schedule for Phase 1 to be completed in February 2009 and Phase 2 by August 2009. Due to the ever-increasing population projections, however, the need to advance Phase 3 for a total service population of 133,000 is now being considered.”

The expansion of the WRF is one of the many challenges that Fort McMurray faces as it addresses the significant growth being experienced in one of the most fast-paced and dynamic economic regions in North America.