THUNDER BAY — The City of Thunder Bay is embarking on some long-term planning for its water system.
Sometime next month, it expects to hire a consultant to examine the existing infrastructure for water treatment and distribution, and forecast required upgrades over the next two decades.
An update is needed since the existing master plan hasn't been tweaked for 25 years, and parts of the infrastructure are already over a century old.
"The City of Thunder Bay is no different than a lot of other municipalities and water systems across Canada," said Josh Daniels, water and wastewater engineer with the Environment & Operations division. "We have a lot of aging infrastructure. From the amalgamation of the two cities we have connections that date back over 100 years."
Thunder Bay has 725 kilometres of watermains, seven pumping stations spread around the city, and nearly 39,000 service connections, all fed by the Bare Point Water Treatment Plant.
Among other tasks, the consulting firm that does the study will be expected to confirm existing water system capacities, currrent demands, system conditions, and constraints on future growth.
It will review any critical points in the system with respect to redundancy and the ability to continue service in the event of equipment failure.
The consultant will also identify solutions and costs for accommodating growth, recommend priorities for implementation and estimate the timeframes.
Daniels said the plan needs to encompass the city's short-term, medium-term and long-term requirements.
According to the city's request for proposals, the city's population is expected to continue to grow at a modest pace over the next 20 years, but residents over 60 years of age will comprise an increasingly larger proportion.
It's expected that this aging trend will create a demand for new and different types of housing, which could impact the water system.
The city wants the study done by a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in engineering, water treatment, water distribution, environmental science and community engagement.
It's targeting November 2026 for completion of the study, but the consultant may be approached in five or ten years to return to Thunder Bay to update the plan.
Daniels said the project will provide a big-picture examination of the whole system instead of a piecemeal approach.
"It's a large study, and it's important. It's something the city needs, and it needs soon."
