Earth Tech Selected for First Large Scale BNR Wastewater Treatment Facility

Earth Tech, along with local partners Totten Sims Hubicki Associates and STEM Engineering, was selected by the city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, under a design/bid/build contract to upgrade the city’s East End Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) to secondary treatment. The project is valued at more than $35 million. Design work has begun with construction completion expected by December of 2005.

This will be the third such upgrade for the facility, which was originally built in 1959 and later upgraded in 1972. When complete, the new facility will include the provision of secondary treatment to the plant’s rated capacity using the biological nutrient removal (BNR) process.

BNR technology improves effluent quality while using less chemical and energy and has been successfully used by Earth Tech throughout Western Canada. The facility will provide significant protection to the Great Lakes Region to maintain its ecological integrity.

The Sault Ste. Marie East End WPCP has been identified as a point source contaminant contributor to the St. Mary’s River, a 70-mile channel connecting Lakes Superior and Huron. The WPCP upgrade addresses Remedial Action Plan requirements for the St. Mary’s River, identified as an Area of Concern defined by the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

The East End Water Pollution Control Plant treats approximately 75 percent of the sewage flow from the city.

Sault Ste. Marie has a population of 80,000 and is located at the base of lake Superior, and the head waters of Lake Huron, across from it’s sister city Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

Source: Earth Tech