Construction is nearly complete on the multi-community intake pipeline replacement project in Brights Grove.
The project has been years in the making and is expected to be completed by mid-November if all goes well.
"It's a huge project. They've been talking about it for a decade or more. We were fortunate to get some funding. It's a $16 million job thereabouts, and then we've got about $12 million in funding," said Town of Petrolia Director of Operations, Mike Thompson.
The project is expected to restore treatment capacity at the Brights Grove Water Treatment Plant and maintain safe drinking water for more than 11,200 residents.
"It's an exciting project. We've been working on this for two or three years, maybe more. Back in the day, it was a joint application with other municipalities, Enniskillen, Oil Springs, and Dawn Euphemia, to replace our intake pipe in the lake. It's the pipe that brings the raw water in to be treated and then pushed to the residents and the municipalities."
The first length of pipe was put in during the first week of October, and the second part is expected to be installed in the coming weeks.
The Town of Petrolia posted videos of the pipeline being pulled up the St. Clair River late last week.
"The second section is a little bit longer than the first, and then once the pipe is in and backfilled on the bottom of the lake, they'll install the intake at the end with the crib that goes over top of the intake. So they'll be out in the water probably for another month working on that," said Thompson.
The new pipeline is made of 24-inch poly pipe, whereas the old one, which is nearly 70 years old, is made of cast iron.
