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Backup generator installed at water treatment plant as part of $35M upgrade

City crews used a little creativity to install the new backup power generator for the water treatment plant.

City crews used a little creativity to install the new backup power generator for the water treatment plant.

Tom Marstaller, Environmental Planning superintendent, said the roof on the building was completed before they had the generator. That caused some quick thinking on their feet on Wednesday.

“They slid the generator in one end of the building,” he said. “You don’t usually do it that way. You usually drop it in from the top instead of shoving it in from the side.”

The new generator is part of the $35-million upgrades to the water treatment plant that began a few years ago.

Marstaller said it will likely take a couple months to hook it up and test the new generator before it is fully operational.

The old generator only powered part of the plant. Marstaller said the new generator will power enough of the plant to produce a significant amount of water during a power outage.

“We can’t produce our full amount but we will be able to produce enough to keep people’s taps running,” said Marstaller. “In case there is a prolonged power outage, one of the things people need is water.”

The final phase of the project will include replacing pumps. A new water intake and screening building was completed in early 2011.

The maximum water demand is roughly 90 million litres per day and that is projected to grow to 120 million litres per day by 2020. Using aggressive water conservation measures, the city hopes to get the demand down to 100 million litres per day by 2020.

The city supplies water to roughly 110,000 residents in Central Alberta.

crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com