Martin Perron, superintendent of environmental services for the town of Hawkesbury, sat down with TVC22 Journalist Bruce de la Cruz to discuss the recent plans of upgrading the town’s water treatment plant.

The city of Hawkesbury has received 1.1 million dollars in funding from the government of Canada, and the construction will take place over a 2 year period. Mr. Perron explains that water treatment begins when the raw water is pumped from the Ottawa river.

It then goes through several purifying processes including screening, sedimentation, filtering, and disinfection using chlorine. It is then stored in a reservoir for later use. Every water treatment plant is given a permit of how much they are allowed to produce. Currently Hawkesbury is allowed to produce up to 27 000 cubic meters, but currently Hawkesbury is only able to produce 18 000 cubic meters of clean water.

The plant was built in 1954, so the equipment and technology of the is outdated and the working life of the clarifiers have reached their end. The new high rate clarifiers use new technology which has a higher rate of clarifying the water, which will mean that smaller the 3 new clarifiers will be able to output more water than the 2 old ones, yet have a smaller carbon footprint.

Mr. Perron assures us that the old clarifier does not affect the water’s drinking quality, but that the main objective of the project is to be able to produce more water to reach demands. The carefully planned construction process will allow for clean water to still be available. The 2nd clarifier that was added in 1997 will be able to produce enough water on its own while the old clarifier is being replaced.

During the 20 year plan to improve the plant, other upgrades will include but are not limited to improving the raw water station , improving one of the underground reservoirs, and fixing the sand filter pipe.

Mr. Perron states that the team that he is working with are a great team that works efficiently, and are committed to providing the best water to the town of Hawkesbury. Mr. Perron elaborates that the city is following trends in water intake, and upgrading so as to keep up with demand, and are very optimistic for what the future holds.