Orangeville Water Pollution Control Plant Expansion

The Town of Orangeville is located in close proximity to the Greater Toronto Area and has experienced significant growth since 1970. The Town required an expansion and upgrades to its Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) in order to accommodate future growth, as identified in its 2004 Long-Term Servicing Strategy and the subsequent Municipal Class Environmental Assessment.

Burnside was retained by the Town to undertake the preliminary and detailed engineering, applications for approval, tendering assistance, as well as contract administration and field observation during the construction period for the plant expansion. The upgrades increase the WPCP’s average capacity from 14,000 m³/day to 17,500 m³/day and allow the plant to meet more stringent effluent requirements required by the Province of Ontario.

The WPCP is an activated sludge plant with a Modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) denitrification process, effluent filtration, chlorine disinfection, and dechlorination. The facility consists of two treatment trains – the Old Plant and the New Plant – with the New Plant‘s expansion increasing the WPCP’s overall rated capacity.

Some of the New Plant design changes include the addition of a fourth bioreactor, high efficiency turbo blowers to meet increased aeration requirements, the construction of an additional clarifier, and the construction of a third shallow sand bed filter. The Old Plant upgrades improve performance and include the replacement of existing return activated sludge pumps, blowers, aerators, and grit handling equipment. The upgrades to both trains overhaul the plant’s PLC instrumentation and control capabilities.

Upgrades were performed while the plant was operational, and we took care to devise a sequencing plan for construction, which allowed the plant to continue to treat the incoming flows and discharge effluent compliant with the pre-construction rated capacity.