District of Clearwater seems to have gotten its money’s worth with the recently submitted sanitary sewer expansion study from TRUE Consulting.
Town council used the study as a basis for its decision last Tuesday to apply for federal grants to cover the cost of extending the town’s sewer system to the area around Dutch Lake.
The study was originally intended to focus only on Dutch Lake but the consultants expanded it to include all areas of the District west of Clearwater Valley Road.
The consultants identified seven collection areas and gave cost estimates for each:
Area 1 - Clearwater Village Road Area (Old Town), 161 parcels representing a design population of 350. Modest development potential due to floodplain criteria. Total cost $3.2 million ($20,000 per parcel).
Area 2 - Dutch Lake Area (East Clearwater Riverside Center), 94 parcels, equivalent population of 500, total cost $2.7 million ($28,300 per parcel).
Area 3 - Brookfield Area (West Clearwater Riverside Center), 90 parcels, equivalent population of 400, total cost $2.5 million ($28,300 per parcel).
Area 4 - Clearwater Valley Road Area, 110 existing parcels, total cost $2.2 million ($20,000 per parcel).
Area 5 - Summit Lake Road Area, 40 single-family lots, total cost $1.0 million ($25,200 per parcel).
Area 6 - Sunshine Valley Area, 120 serviced parcels, sewer extension not likely in the short or medium future. Total cost $2.6 million ($23,400 per parcel).
Area 7 - Schmidt Road Area, 54 rural residential lots, not serviced by municipal water system, a long-term future project, total cost $2.2 million ($40,600 per parcel).
According to the report, Clearwater’s sewer system was constructed in 1970 by Weyerhaeuser to service a residential subdivision of about 100 lots on Helmcken Road, Robson Street and Murtle Crescent. Ownership and maintenance were then transferred to Clearwater Improvement District.
In the late 1970s the system was extended to the secondary school and Sportsplex.
Extensions in the 1990s included new development on Robson Place, Murtle Road, Murtle Crescent and Blair Place.
The system was extended in 1998 to the north side of Highway 5 to service commercial development on Eden Road.
In 2003 a lift station to serve the hospital was installed. This sewer has since been extended to service other institutional buildings in the hospital area.
An extension installed in 2010 went north from Eden Road along Clearwater Valley Road to service new residential development, including a lift station.
Despite the expansions, no significant upgrades or improvements to the sewage treatment system were undertaken until 2009.
Following incorporation, District of Clearwater was able to obtain grants to upgrade the treatment system, which was by then over capacity and failing to meet the discharge requirements of its Waste Management Permit.
The upgrades, which included the conversion of one cell into an aerated lagoon, increased the capacity from 166 cubic meters/day to 300 cubic meters/day - enough to service about 400 homes.