Starland County submitted an application to the Building Canada Fund back in 2009. Upon reviewing the application, Ross Rawlusyk, Chief Administrative Officer of Starland County indicated that the County may receive late approval this year.
The grant would provide funding for the CLV Water System Upgrading Project.
“At this point they’ve asked us to update the estimates for the project, so that if it is approved they will have up to date costs,” said Rawlusyk.
The CLV System, which was built in 1989, was originally a farmer-based system. Starland County took over its operations in 2007. It supplies household water to some rural residents in Starland County and includes a truck fill station along the line.
So far, Rawlusyk said the County has not heard one way or another as to whether or not Starland will receive the funding through Building Canada.
“We are certainly hoping [it is approved] because for us it’s a very good project,” said Rawlusyk.
“Since operating the system, [the County] has determined that there are some deficiencies and weaknesses within it. That is why we made the application to carry out the upgrades,” said Rawlusyk.
Proposed Upgrades
Included in the proposed upgrades are a new vacuum release valve system to release pressure as the water comes from the Town of Drumheller system, and Rawlusyk explained, there is quite a bit of pressure coming out of the valley. Currently there is no vacuum release valve on the system as it stands. Additional isolation valves will be added to the current structure, so that in the event of a leak, the problem itself can be contained. More flushing points will be constructed, so that if there is need of flushing it will allow this job to be done a lot easier.
The current system is in a “Y” shape said Rawlusyk.
“One of the things we are hoping for is to actually connect the system so the water will flow in a loop. This will help the water retain its freshness and will help with the chlorination process,” said Rawlusyk.
He said the looping will help residents who are in between the area of the two “branches,” have access to that water if they so choose.
The grant funding will also help the County add the CLV System to their Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. This is an electronic monitoring system, which allows operators to keep a close eye on the water system without actually being right there.
“We have most of our rural water systems on SCADA already,” said Rawlusyk.
Additional water sampling stations will also be added to CLV.
“Alberta Environment has fairly stringent testing requirments, and they do not like when you draw your water samples from the exact same location every time. In order to retrieve various samples, we need to install sampling hydrants in different locations,” said Rawlusyk.
Solar power is also something on the agenda for CLV, as it currently has a truck fill system with some storage. Solar panels would help knock down some of the power costs on the pumping station.
Last but not least the replacement of all the meter vaults on all the farms is something the County wishes to do with CLV. Right now, the metering pits are below ground, and with the installation of
new technology these metering systems will have the advantage of being able to be serviced above ground rather than below.
Project Costs
Originally the cost of these upgrades came to about $1.1 million. The updated costs came to $1.255 million.
“If the funding is provided from the Building Canada program, it will cover 2/3 of the cost of the project. The County’s portion is proposed to be funded by a grant that we have under the federal gas tax,” said Rawlusyk.
“Basically this means we could do the improvements for virtually nothing.”