Posted by Perry Decola
Connie Reid introduced Perry Decola, an Environmental Technologist with the City of Belleville..  Perry was very pleased to be able to present an overview of the Water Treatment Operation in the City and first reviewed some of the history.  Easy to note that we continue to improve operations, replace parts, upgrade.  In 1886 the first pump house and 16.5 miles of water mains were constructed and operated by a private company.  After thirteen years, the City of Belleville purchased and operated the water works.  Cost to purchase at that time was $169,000 versus $251,000 to build.  Remember that was in 1899.  New technology in the form of electric pumps were installed in 1911, chlorination treatment was added in 1919 and filtration in 1931.  In 1937 the Public Utilities Commission was formed.  Micro strainers were installed in 1958 to deal with algae in the Bay of Quinte and in 1965 another treatment, fluoridation was added.  A zebra mussel control system was added in 1992 and in 1995 a $42 million dollar rehabilitation and expansion project was started to bring operations up to current standards.  The official commissioning of the rehabilitated and expanded plant took place in 2001 after six years of construction and one year after the Walkerton water crisis.  The Safe Drinking Water Act came into existence in 2002 with new rules. 
 
The Belleville Water Distribution system supplies water services to approximately 40,000 individuals throughout its coverage area. Currently they are responsible for the distribution needs of approximately 12,000 Residential, 1,500 General and 6,000 Apartment Unit service connections within the City's urban area. In addition there are 400 Residential and 20 General service customers in Thurlow, as well as another 400 Residential and 20 General service customers south of the Bay of Quinte in Prince Edward County. The water main system runs for approximately 210 kilometres and consists of Cast Iron, Ductile Iron, PVC, AC and HDPE piping. The distribution system includes Reservoirs at North Park Street (9.0 ML or 2 Million Gallons) and Pine Street (11.4 ML or 2.5 Million Gallons) plus an elevated storage tank at 40 Hillcrest Street with a 3.4 ML or 750,000 Gallon capacity.  The Belleville Water Treatment Plant is classified as a Level 4 facility and the Distribution System is classified as a Level 3 system. All Water Treatment Plant and Distribution System Operators are licensed by the Ministry of the Environment.
 
Belleville takes raw water from the Bay of Quinte, using two intake pipes which are approximately 500 metres south of the water treatment plant. We have a large supply of surface water, most of which has arrived in the Bay of Quinte from the Trent River. The water flows south in the Trent River, then eastward through the Bay of Quinte to Lake Ontario.  The Bay of Quinte is a relatively shallow body of water. The bay is easily turned over by daily winds, and which in turn, causes changes in raw water turbidity. The water temperature in the Bay of Quinte will range from 0.5 degrees in the winter, to 29 degrees in mid summer. As the water warms, plant life grows and algae blooms occur. Our licensed plant operators handle daily operational challenges with the constant change of these raw water parameters.  The raw water from the Bay of  Quinte flows in to the plant via two intake pipes, then through a coarse debris screen. Potassium Permanganate is added in the intakes seasonally to reduce taste and odours. Low lift pumps move this water to the pre-treatment facility rapid mixing chambers, where aluminum    sulphate is added, as a coagulant.  The water then flows through the three stage flocculation tanks to the dissolved air flotation system. The alum floc entering the dissolved air tankage, floats to the surface, bringing with it the majority of the raw water turbidity. This floated turbidity is comprised of dirt particulate, coliforms, viruses, bacteria and algae.  This floated turbidity remains in the dissolved air flotation tank, and the clear effluent water flows to filter influent area. We have twelve multi media gravity filters, containing thirty inches of Granular Activated Carbon. The filters will remove particulate from the water, to ensure the filtered water turbidity is less than 1.0 ntu, as required by law. In fact, Belleville's filtered water turbidity is typically 0.08 ntu. The Granular Activated Carbon filters are also designed to remove tastes and odours.  The filtered water effluent then enters the contact chamber, where chlorine is added in exactly the precise amount and given the required contact time, to provide the required level of disinfection as stated in the Procedure For Disinfection Of Drinking Water In Ontario. This is also required by law. Additional chlorine is added to maintain a required minimum free chlorine residual at all locations in the Belleville distribution system.  The water is now treated, and safe to drink. Prior to pumping this treated water to the City, fluoride is added to the water for the improved dental health of our residents.
 
Water quality is monitored at each stage of the water treatment process, this data is used by our Ontario licensed Water Treatment plant operators to make the necessary process changes and adjustments. In house samples are collected and tested on site throughout the day by a licensed operator and with continuous on line analyzers, for physical and chemical parameters such as Chlorine residuals, pH, Turbidity, Fluoride, Aluminum and Temperature. Threshold number testing and Algae identification is also carried out in house, at the Water Treatment Plant.   Raw, treated and distribution samples from throughout the City are collected weekly and sent to Caduceon Laboratories in Kingston. These samples are analyzed for microbiological parameters, such as e-coli, total coliforms, and heterotrophic plate count. Caduceon Laboratories is a Ministry of the Environment accredited lab.  In addition to weekly microbiological testing, Belleville Water also has raw, treated and distribution waters analyzed for Organic and Inorganic parameters.
 
Without the investment in infrastructure and processes, we would not be able to provide the life styles we currently enjoy.  Ashley Rushnell thanked Perry for his very informative and interactive presentation, reminding us of the importance of water in our City.  Pictured is Perry getting folks to pretend to be molecules.......a picture is worth 1000 words!