Ingersoll Wastewater Treatment Plant Named Project of the Year

Friday, 8 February 2019 14:15

The Ingersoll Wastewater Treatment Plant has been named the Project of the Year from the Ontario Public Works Association.

The multi-year construction project, which began in 2013, saw upgrades to some existing areas of the plant and full demolition and replacement of others. The project was recognized in the Historical Restoration and Preservation category for efforts to preserve the existing 1974 plant infrastructure while reducing the footprint and impact on the environment.

Project Engineer and Construction Coordinator for Oxford County Mark Maxwell says they are honoured to receive this award.

“We're very proud to receive this award that recognizes our efforts on the Ingersoll WWTP Upgrade project. The award highlights the hard work and passion of staff as we continually strive to deliver high-quality results for the residents of Oxford County.”

Maxwell says this was a huge project for them to undertake.

"It came in at about $20 million dollars to upgrade this plant and what we are mainly doing was getting a higher raising capacity. The Ingersoll Waste Water Treatment plant was made up of an original plant that was built in 1947 and then subsequently another plant was built in 1974 to increase the capacity and that original 1947 plant was reaching the end of it's useful life. We had to beef up the 1974 plant to run all the flow through it while at the same time we decommissioned the 1947 plant and built a new larger, more modern plant in it's place."

The project required technical expertise and a complex phasing strategy, as the older WWTP infrastructure needed to remain functional until the new plant components were operational so as to not disrupt wastewater treatment operations.

Phase I of the project served to increase the wastewater treatment capacity to an average day flow (ADF) of 12,945 m³/day. Further Phase II upgrades will be completed in the coming years to accommodate a projected ADF of 14,250 m³/day by 2035 to service ongoing growth in the community.