A major upgrade is now underway on the Owen Sound Wastewater Primary treatment plant.
It’s a 6.5 million dollar project that includes construction of a new screen complex, and modifications to the existing raw sewage pumping station.
Engineering Services Manager Chris Webb says many of the components in the plant are tired, since it was built in the 1960’s.
Wellington Construction of Palmerston is on site doing the work, which will take until September of 2010 to complete.
Webb says the upgrade has been in the works for a few years, and when first looked at, the cost was expected to be about 3 million dollars.
He says 1.2 million dollars in Federal/Provincial money is available which means taxpayers in Owen Sound have to pay about 5 million dollars of the cost.
Meanwhile, Chris Webb says Owen Sound is still moving ahead with plans for a Secondary treatment plant to be built in the city.
That project is worth over 40 million dollars and is a few years away yet.
The environmental assessment on that project should be done this December, 2009.