Lunenburg municipality getting 2 generators for sewage systems to counter blackouts

The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg is acquiring two new generators for its sewage systems to prevent service interruptions due to blackouts. 

A pump station in the Osprey Village development area just outside Bridgewater, N.S., will be the first in the municipality to get a fixed generator by next year. Smaller collection stations in Cookville, Conquerall Bank and New Germany will share a portable one.

Stephen Pace, the municipality's director of engineering and public works, said the acquisitions are in response to increasingly severe weather events attributed to climate change.

"Last July we had major rainstorms that had a lot of impact on our wastewater systems. And so we're just noticing we're losing power more frequently and for longer durations," he said. 

But Pace said while backup power is becoming more important than ever, there are challenges to acquiring these generators.

"Ideally, it would be nice to have every pump station with emergency backup power," he said. "But that's not always possible given locations and adequate land and also the capital costs of putting these in place."

Backup power 'essential' in systems

Adam Yang, a professor of civil engineering at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said having backup power is an "essential" component of wastewater systems.

Yang said pumping stations are particularly at risk during power outages. These stations help move raw sewage from pipes to treatment facilities using electricity, so blackouts create a big problem for them. 

"[Wastewater] can overflow into the streams or potentially can pollute adjacent soil," said the professor.

He said a growing population is already straining systems with increased wastewater, and climate change further complicates the management of wastewater during power outages. 

Generators a big expense

Pace said his municipality worked the two generators into its five-year capital budget because of the considerable expense.

The cost for the fixed generator is $83,088 plus installation, while the mobile generator is $83,900. 

And they can be even more expensive. As the Municipality of the District of Chester prepares to replace one of its fixed generators next year, director of public works Fred Whynot said in an email that the upgrade would probably cost in the range of $100,000 to $150,000.

Jesse Hulsman, the director of infrastructure and operations for the Municipality of East Hants, expressed his hope that municipalities receive continuing funding from other levels of government to maintain infrastructure and update it more often. 

"You always have to be renewing and setting up ongoing funding support provincially and federally that can support that," said Hulsman.

East Hants has no fixed generators and relies on six portable ones for its 28 pumping stations, he said. 

No space for generators

A shortage of space in pumping stations can also limit a municipality's ability to obtain generators. 

Hulsman said his municipality has no fixed generators in part because its pumping stations have no room for expansions or would require the purchase of adjacent land, adding to the cost. But he said they are working on it. 

"If you're looking at an expansion plan, you need to look at expanding land ownership and acquisition and dealing with adjacent property owners," he said.

Portable generators

Portable generators are often preferred over fixed ones because they can be transported where they're needed during power outages.

Jeff Myrick, senior manager of communications at Halifax Water, said 33 per cent of the 166 pumps in Halifax have fixed generators, while the rest depend on 13 portable generators transported on trailers. 

However, while fixed generators are already on-site in case of emergency, extreme weather events can sometimes make it too dangerous for staff to transport a portable generator to a pumping station during a power outage.  

"Our key priorities and top priority is the staff safety and the safety of the public. So if for some reason it's not safe to go to a certain location because of conditions, we would make the call, but nothing would get deployed until it was safe to do so," said Myrick.