In May 2017, the Schomberg water Treatment Plant lost filtration capacity due to unexpected failure of one of three pressure filter trains and the plant struggled to maintain system demands. The Region replaced the filter media and retested the filters, however flows were reduced due to the limitations of the filter process to less than 50% capacity. While system demands were now satisfied, the Region considered the security of the water supply for the community to be at risk. There was a need to increase capacity and redundancy to allow for greater optimization and ongoing maintenance.
Temporary mobile filtration trailers were commissioned to provide the needed capacity, redundancy and water quality to complete the necessary upgrades including: replacement of the filer media, reconfiguring the filter underdrains, replacement and optimization of the oxidation system, replacement and modification of the valves and piping, updating the instrumentation, and reprogramming of the water treatment plant process control logic. Over the next several months, the temporary filters were carefully monitored, the existing plant filters removed from service, and upgrading and restoration of the original treatment plant began. All upgrades were implemented in 2018 and 2019 including rigorous commissioning and site acceptance testing for more than three months. After final testing and commissioning, the plant filters were officially put back in to service in November 2019 and the temporary filters phased out by March 2020. Eramosa provided SCADA programming services for the water treatment plant process control logic and assisted in the commissioning and testing of the upgrades.
We are very pleased to share that the Region of York’s Schomberg Water Treatment Plant Emergency Filter Rehabilitation Project has been selected as the Ontario Public Works Association’s (OPWA) 2020 Project of the Year for Emergency Construction between $2-$10 Million. See the presentation here.