A power failure last summer at Salmon Arm’s water treatment facility has prompted the city to take the precautionary measure of purchasing a portable generator to the tune of $245,827 plus taxes.
At their meeting last Monday, city council approved the generator purchase, as well as the the acquisition of a transfer switch connection in zone 4, both from All Phase Electric.
The portable generator purchase includes the cost of the generator ($145,000), a custom trailer ($40,000) and a low lift transfer switch ($60,827).
City director of engineering and public works, Rob Niewenhuizen, explained how the need for the generator became evident in the summer of 2017, when a major windstorm resulted in an extended power outage to the water treatment plant in Canoe and the nearby pump station.
“Because of those situations, we did have a power outage at our water treatment plant which lasted a substantially long time, and we were very concerned about us being able to provide potable water to the community,” said Niewenhuizen.
Adding to the concern was the lack of precipitation and local water usage which shot up from approximately 6.5 megalitres per day in the winter to 24 megalitres per day in the summer – a jump Niewenhuizen attributed largely to the watering of lawns, etc.
“So quite a substantial leap in the amount of water production we have to put through the plant,” said Niewenhuizen. “So we do get nervous when the wind blows, and we would like to buy a portable generator which we could utilize at our pump, our flow lift station which is right on Canoe Beach, and our transfer station in zone 4… which is on 30th.
“So this generator, we’d be able to shuttle around to these different locations to feed power into the plant and the pumps. This will not run our water treatment plant, but it will allow us to pump water into our system and chlorinate it so we would have the ability to at least supply water. We would probably, if we were in that situation, we’d go on a boil water advisory.”
The decision to sole source the purchases from All Phase Electric stems from the Salmon Arm company holding the permit for the city’s zone 1 pump station and having completed upgrades to that station over the past 10 years.
“Familiarity with the pump station and operational controls is paramount in the installation/operation of the generator and transfer switches,” writes Niewenhuizen in a report to council.
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