Early interests in storm drains and catch basins
were signs of a career in civil technology

Darin received the 2008 SASTT President’s Award

As a child growing up in Saskatoon, Darin Schindel liked to clear storm drains with a friend each spring. They would chip away at the ice and create a drainage path to the catch basin for the spring melt. The young “technologists” even made the front page of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix one spring trying to open up the catch basin to allow the Spring melt to drain away. For Darin, this was an early indication of a career as a technologist.

A little later on, as a young adult, Darin was a lifeguard and obtained his swimming pool operator certificate which allowed him to operate and maintain swimming pools where he worked. Operations would include mechanical pumping and piping systems as well as chemical requirements for the water. Events seemed to be pointing Darin along the path of a career in technology.

While in his last year of high school, Darin recalls having a conversation with a neighbour who had a Ph.D. in engineering. “He said I should investigate the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology Programs. I did and found a diploma program called Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing Engineering Technology that interested me. The employment opportunities upon graduation were good and it sounded like a rewarding career with endless opportunities.”

As a member of the Saskatchewan Applied Science Technologists and Technicians (SASTT), (the professional registration body in Saskatchewan for technologists and technicians), Darin had the opportunity to discuss employment opportunities with individuals in the field and found that recommendations for Associated Engineering were solid. Coupled with the fact that the Associated Engineering office was close to his home, and his wife and he had just had twin daughters, Darin interviewed with AE and decided it was a great place to work and expand his career while also being close to his family.

Darin’s wife Brenda and twin daughters Lauryn and Rebecca

Early in his career Darin learned the importance of mentorship. Darin advises, “One thing I have learned is that an engineering technologist in the consulting industry requires a mentor. Having someone who has the experience and wisdom and is willing to share them is a great way to learn. My mentor is Bob Hawboldt. He and I have just started with the AE mentoring program. Bob helps me to prioritize the goals and is there to make suggestions about alternate ideas to help me achieve my goals and aspirations. I am a huge promoter of mentoring young staff and am humbled when staff come to me for help with problems. Mentoring is also a great way in which to orient new staff to the way things work in the company and how different projects are handled.”

Working in the consulting industry has given Darin the opportunity to work on a variety of projects as well as the chance to work with a team of individuals from all disciplines which, as he states, ...“allows me to learn from each of them. I have had the opportunity to work in the controls, mining, and municipal industries and have learned and enjoyed each one of these sectors.”

“Being part of a team has been a highlight of my AE career,” observes Darin. “The engineering team is made up of a group of people, not just individual entities. We all draw upon each other and rely on each other to get a project completed. I had the opportunity to work on the corporate CAD standards and assist with the rollout of the 2008 AutoCAD software. This involved traveling to the eastern offices, allowing me the opportunity to meet with others like myself doing the same job in different geographical areas. It also provided the inter-office interaction that is needed to develop relationships in other offices which, once again, enforces the idea of drawing from other experiences and ideas.”

Darin has been involved with professional activities and has been the Director, Vice President, President and Past President of SASTT. In 2008 Darin received the SASTT President’s Award for his dedicated volunteer efforts in promoting the advancement of Technologists and Technicians in the province of Saskatchewan.

In addition to working and volunteering with SASTT, Darin has a full home life with wife Brenda and beautiful twin daughters, Lauryn and Rebecca. The family enjoys hiking, biking, miniature golfing and camping. Each year they spend at least a week or longer at Cypress Hill Provincial Park. Darin states, “I really believe you must try to do what you set out to do, rather than being afraid to make an attempt. Trying creates an outcome that can be very successful and positive. Failure is not the worst thing in the world. The very worst is not to try.”

New Belle River Water Treatment Plant improves water quality for Town of Lakeshore

New Water Treatment Plant

Located east of Windsor, Ontario, the Town of Lakeshore’s new Belle River Water Treatment Plant was put into operation in late January 2009. The plant replaces the old Belle River plant, parts of which date back to the 1920s.

Construction of new water Intake with temporary road built into Lake St. Clair for portion of alignment.

Associated Engineering was retained by the town to provide design and construction phase engineering services for this $28.5 million project. The new facility has a rated capacity of 36.4 million litres per day, double that of the former plant.

Lake St. Clair, a shallow interconnecting water body between Lake Huron and the Detroit River, is the water source. Highly variable raw water quality was a key consideration in process selection. While typical raw water turbidity average between 20 to 50 NTU, high winds combined with high runoff flows from Belle River often result in elevated turbidity levels, up to and occasionally beyond 500 NTU for extended periods. Taste and odour mitigation was also a key consideration. AE developed a robust water treatment process designed to handle variable water quality while providing for better taste and odour control, for the new Belle River WTP.

The new plant, build on a vacant site across the road from the old facility, includes the following works:

• Low lift pumping station (this portion only was built within the footprint of the existing structure).
• Coagulation with alum followed by flocculation and sedimentation using upflow solids contact clarifiers with tube settlers.
• Powdered activated carbon (PAC) addition prior to sedimentation, when needed, for enhanced taste and odour control.
• 3 metre deep granular activated carbon (GAC) bed over sand filter media for additional particulate removal and taste and odour control.
• UV reactors, immediately following filtration, for primary disinfection.
• Gas chlorination for secondary disinfection (chlorine residual maintenance) and zebra mussel control.
• Two cell in-ground reservoir with 10 million litres of storage capacity.

High lift pumping station, built overtop the corner of one reservoir cell, to deliver water to the distribution system, which currently services 20,000 people.

Associated Engineering project team, (L to R), Bob Prestidge, Chris Mills, Chris Caers, and Ed Salenieks. New Water Treatment Plant

Related works include alum and liquid polymer chemical addition systems, dry media chlorine gas scrubber, frazil ice control system at the intake, 900 kilowatt diesel generator set for standby power and a backwash residuals treatment system consisting of mixed equalization tanks and dissolved air flotation for solids removal and thickening.

During the course of construction in 2007, the team became aware that continued long-term use of the existing 600 metre long intake was not feasible due to structural failures identified in the existing CSP intake during flushing of this line to facilitate the new works. Once identified as a problem, the Town retained AE to design and provide construction review services for a new 1200 millimetre diameter HDPE intake, extending approxi- mately 1050 metres offshore in about 3.5 metres of water. The new intake, located parallel to the existing line, will improve raw water quality. The contract for the new intake, valued at $4.5 million, will be completed by this summer. The existing intake will remain in opera- tion for now and for emergency service in the future.

Tony Francisco, Manager of Environmental Services for the Town of Lakeshore states, “I compliment the AE team for their diligent performance on this, the largest public works project ever undertaken by the community.”

Key Associated Engineering staff involved in the project during construction include Ed Salenieks (Project Manager), Chris Caers (Construction Manager/Design Manager for new intake), Bob Prestidge (Site Services Representative), Caroline Korn (Process Engineer), Chris Mills (Start-up and Commissioning Specialist), Krys Pioro (Structural), David Holyer (Electrical), Vanja Jovic (I&C), Dusan Fill ( HVAC), Rob Cochrane (Civil), and Mike Liszega (Process Design).