Huntsville Forester

SUNDRIDGE – Work is underway upgrading the sewer lines in Sundridge.

According to mayor Elgin Schneider, repairs to the system will be done without digging.

“You can do it with a liner that goes in the pipes. Wherever it is warranted, wherever there are leaks, we are doing it,” he said.

The first phase of the project began along the lake in the wintertime. That work is being completed and then crews will move on to the subdivisions on the north side of the highway.

The process begins using cameras that run through the lines while crews search for leaks, and then the liner is inserted where leaks are detected.

He says there is water pressure on the outside of the pipes because of the high water table in the area, adding that when there is an opening water runs into the pipes.

“They do a liner in the manholes if they are leaking they also they put a liner in the pipes,” said Schneider. “Which is kind of an unusual way to do things, but they can do that without digging up the lines, which is great.”

Schneider says, when the camera work is done by Sewer Technologies Inc., the repair work will be tendered.

He says that council has budgeted about $1 million for the sewers, which was part of a $7-million Build Canada Funding grant, of which Sundridge is responsible for one-third. The Build Canada funding is shared equally by the municipality, as well as the provincial and federal governments.

Schneider acknowledges that their third is a lot of money for the village.

“It’s big. It’s going to be tough,” he said.

Council has until 2017 to complete the scope of work needed for their sewage system, which includes work on the pumping stations and at the lagoons.

Schneider says they have preliminary work that needs to be done at the lagoons, which includes finding a way to run a hydro line back to the lagoon.

“We have to bring three-phase hydro in. There is none down there. The lagoons didn’t require any hydro,” he said. “This is a different aeration type system that dumps a little at a time rather than twice a year.”

The lagoons do not have enough capacity, which Schneider says has been an issue since the lagoons were built back in the mid-seventies.

He says when the lagoons were first built they were meant to hold a certain capacity, but never could.

“We complained since day one that they didn’t. There have been all kinds of problems,” he said. “We have to fix it or there are a lot of repercussions.”

He says if the lagoon was built properly at the right capacity, they likely wouldn’t be facing the costs and scope of work that they are now.