Wastewater utility rates to go up to cover budget oversight

Utilities manager Jim Jorgensen described the budget adjustment as an absolute need for the city.

“In its totality, the 2.9 per cent is only on the wastewater component of a customer’s utility bill,” he explained. “So 2.9 per cent is roughly $1.20 impact monthly for the average or typical residential customer.”

With the increasing amount of wastewater through the North, South, and Sylvan Lake wastewater transmission lines, biosolids (solid product of wastewater treatment), according to city officials, are accumulating faster than the ability to remove them.

Biosolids are said to result from the treatment of wastewater which removes the solids (sludge) from the liquid effluent.

According to city officials, land application of municipal biosolids can supplement and may reduce fertilizer use. Land application results in the storage of carbon in the soil, thereby minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere.

In Red Deer, biosolids are stored in settling lagoons at the treatment plant to thicken until they are ready for application. There is $450,000 allocated in the annual operating budget to manage the city’s biosolids through land application using the services of a specialized contractor, which addresses approximately 2,300 and 3,000 dry tonnes per year of biosolids.

City officials further note that not addressing the issue would have increased the risk of adversely affecting discharge into the Red Deer River and, ultimately, non-compliance with the city’s approval to operate.

by Sheldon Spackman

Wastewater utility rates to go up to cover budget oversight

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