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Thursday, Oct 05, 2017

Expansion and upgrades to Rural Municipality of Sherwood’s potable water supply system meets future water demand

Expansion and upgrades to Rural Municipality of Sherwood’s potable water supply system meets future water demand

Bordering the City of Regina, the Rural Municipality of Sherwood offers residents a rural lifestyle in close proximity to city amenities. The Rural Municipality of Sherwood continues to grow, especially in the Sherwood Industrial Park, located north of the City of Regina. The industrial park plans to triple its serviced area over the next several years. To accommodate this anticipated growth, the Rural Municipality needs to expand and upgrade their potable water supply system. 

The Rural Municipality initially engaged Associated Engineering in 2013 to complete a potable water supply feasibility study. The resulting investigation projected water demands and identified raw water sources, treatment options, storage requirements, and trunk watermain sizing for each of the Rural Municipality’s four geographic sectors which surround the city.

In 2016, the Rural Municipality retained Associated Engineering to complete detailed design and provide construction services for a new water supply system to serve the northern geographic sector, Sherwood Industrial Park.  The new water supply system includes a raw water supply, water treatment storage reservoir, and distribution pumping systems. Our affiliate, ATAP Infrastructure Management completed bench-scale testing of the raw water to determine a suitable treatment process. 

Project Manager, Cory Wihlidal, tells us, “Raw water will be initially supplied from two wells drawing from the Regina Aquifer, with a provision for two additional wells, as demand grows.” 

Iron and manganese in the raw water supply exceed provincial aesthetic objectives. Potassium permanganate and chlorine will be added to remove the iron and managanese. Additional treatment processes include rapid mixing, oxidation in a detention tank, and gravity filtration through manganese greensand and anthracite filters. 

A reservoir beneath the water treatment plant has approximately 2000 cubic metres of water storage, with associated water distribution and emergency pumps. 

The water treatment plant can recycle 50% of the backwash water (spent water from cleaning filters) to the front-end of the treatment process, thus reducing the volume of water extracted from the aquifer. Cory says, “This feature minimizes the impact on the aquifer and reduces plant wastes.” 

The design of the treatment plant also includes south-facing windows to minimize lighting requirements and energy demand.  

The project team leveraged 3D design tools to help the owner with decision-making and develop presentation graphics for public consultation meetings. The team produced a rendering of the plant, including the building shell, process mechanical equipment, and piping.   Detailed design and contract documents were completed using 3D/Building Information Modelling (BIM). 

Our key personnel on this project include Cory Wihlidal, Richard Zepick, Chad Strecker, Stan Torgunrud, Chris Reese,  Geoff Sarazin, David Sorenson, Shib Podder, and Perihan Cengiz.