The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (CK PUC) says rehabilitating two major pieces of infrastructure at the Wheatley Water Treatment plant will cut costs and time.
That’s according to general manager Darren Galbraith, who provided an update to commissioners on Thursday about the plant’s progress following a fire on Septemeber 13, 2023.
He said the motor control centre, which supplies the majority of electrical power to the system, and an automatic transfer switch, which transfers power into the plant from Hydro One, can both be rehabilitated for $850,000 to the insurance company.
It would cost $1.55 million to buy them both new.
Galbraith said the rehabilitated equipment can also be delivered in four months, as opposed to over a year for new equipment.
“We’ve agreed to go forward in that direction,” Galbraith said of refurbishing the equipment. “We want to get this plant up and running as fast as we can.”
In the meantime, water is still being supplied to the Wheatley and Tilbury systems through the interconnects with Leamington and the South Water Treatment Plant in Chatham-Kent.
Work to determine what remaining damaged equipment will be replaced or rehabilitated is also progressing quickly, according to Galbraith.
He said temporary equipment is being procured and brought to the site in preparation to be in service by late April when water demands increase.
The PUC is aiming to have the temporary water treatment plant up and running to treat water for local customers by mid-April.
“We’ll take as much water elsewhere as we can that reduces strain on our temporary equipment, but we need to be prepared,” said Galbraith.