The City of Morden has begun construction on a replacement standpipe at the Water Treatment Plant today (April 7) and issued a notice letting residents know that they can expect to find construction vehicles and large equipment on Colert Rd and Water Tower Dr over the next nine months.
Deputy City Manager Santokh Randawa explains a bit about the standpipe and what it means for the community.
The standpipe
According to Randawa, that boiled down to the basics, a standpipe is a vertical water storage tank, but there is a bit more to it than that.
“So, the city used the standpipe to regulate the pressure and distribution system. The current standpipe is very old, and it’s leaking.”
Randawa said that another way this new standpipe will be an improvement is how it will affect the water itself.
“The other thing that we are trying to achieve is the removal of the THMs. So, this new standpipe will have an air stripping system in the standpipe that will reduce the THMs in the drinking water.” He explained that THMs—Trihalomethanes—are a byproduct of chemical disinfectants like chlorine, and occur while the disinfectant interacts with and cleans the water of organic material.
“We are not right now complying with the THM requirements, so we are hoping that with this new system, the drinking water will comply with the THM requirement... There is a limit of .1 milligram per litre,” He said, “and we are slightly above that.”
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Timeline and cost
The current timeline for the standpipe to be completed, as outlined by the city, is nine months. According to Randawa, “April will be heavy and June will be heavy work, there will be some idle time in between as well, but the final completion is by November 30th".
Randawa also shared that the cost for this project is $4.6 million. “Out of that, 2.15 million is grant funding provided by the Manitoba Water Services Board, and the rest will be from the city.”
Visit the city of Morden’s website to stay up to date on the project as it develops.