North Rustico's new wastewater system 'working perfectly'

As the town of Stratford works to decide between two options to solve itswastewater problems, the town of North Rustico says a relatively new system in that municipality is working perfectly.

In 2014, the municipality decided to move from an older style of batch treatment, to a more modern system. Les Standen, chairman of the North Rustico Sewer and Water Utilitysaid since then, there's been no problem with odour.

• Stratford sewage decision will be made within a month
• Stratford to choose between 2 sewage options

Water quality tests alsocontinue to surpass government regulations.

"So far our results, we've got a very good quality of effluent going out, better than before, what we put out before was meeting government guidelines but this surpasses those dramatically, and it's an excellent treatment system for our community, so we're very pleased with it," said Standen.

The town made use of government grantsto install the new system, but had to borrow 25 per cent of the cost, which amounted to $500,000.

Standen said that cost will be spread out over many years because it wouldn't have been fair to place the entire financial burden on the community, for such a long-term investment.

"It's not just this current population that benefits, it's future generations, these treatment systems have huge longevity," he said.

A lot to consider

Standensaid there's a lot for any municipality to consider whenoverhaulingitssewage treatment.

"What are their volumes during summer, what are their volumes during winter, what is current growth rate and expected growth rate, you don't want to oversize any system," Standen said.

"You've got to look at current numbers of residents, how much can you fairly impose on them from a cost standpoint to run."

Earlier this month, the town of Stratford unveiled two proposed plans to treat wastewater, either pump sewage to Charlottetown for processing, or build a new plant in Stratford. The town's mayor, David Dunphysaid council would gatherfeedback from residents until Aug. 17.

The decision on which option the town will choose will be announced at thenext council meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 14.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |5 fun things to do on P.E.I. this weekend
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |P.E.I. retail sales hit another record