HOW DOES THIS SERVICE CONTRIBUTE TO THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE CITY OF LONDON?

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1 Service: Program: 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management Environmental Services HOW DOES THIS SERVICE CONTRIBUTE TO THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE CITY OF LONDON? The desired population results in the City of London s Strategic Plan: A Strong Economy, A Vibrant and Diverse Community, A Green and Growing City, A Reliable Infrastructure, A Caring Community Protects the environment, both natural and built, through the management and treatment of wastewater and stormwater and contributes to health of the citizens and to a cleaner and healthier river system not only within the city boundaries but throughout the Thames River watershed as a whole. This service supports a Sustainable Infrastructure. BASIC FACTS # Staff 202 Cost per Household () 202 Approved Gross Budget ($000) 67 (Full-Time) $469 $,50 Is this service provided by Name the main activities done to provide this service: someone other than City staff? (Yes/No/%). Engineering (WADE and SWM) Yes 40% 2. Sewer Operations Yes 0% 3. Wastewater & Treatment Operations No () Assuming a residential consumption of 92.6 m 3. TURNING THE CURVE Turning the curve is changing the direction of a trendline on a important measure of performance. Stormwater Management Facility Maintenance (How much did we do?) Hours 0 One Cycle of SWMF Maintenance for 24 Facilities completed Completion of first cycle projected next cycle projected Page of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management

2 Service: Program: 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management Environmental Services THE STORY BEHIND THE CURVES The City of London currently owns and maintains 24 stormwater facilities including 8 wet ponds, 2 wetlands, dry pond and 3 control/energy dissipation facilities. In addition to these stormwater facilities, there are 40 ponds already constructed. These stormwater facilities are currently developer owned and operated, but will eventually become the property of the City of London. One hundred () stormwater ponds are proposed for future construction. In 2008 and 2009 some maintenance was carried out, as needs were discovered on an ad hoc basis. In 200, the City s Sewer Operations Division carried out its first formal maintenance program based on short and longer term maintenance schedules, developed by an engineering firm, AECOM. Recognizing that the annual maintenance is seasonal, time to complete a full maintenance cycle (24 ponds) is limited. Staff have been able to complete approximately 60% (by number of ponds) of the 24 stormwater ponds over the 200/ seasons. Anticipated completion of the cycle is expected in 202. With the first cycle nearing completion, it is also anticipated that the maintenance cycle will shorten as staff gain a better understanding of the maintenance requirements. As previously noted, annual routine maintenance is a relatively new business process undertaken by the Sewer Operations division. Subsequently, limited data and assumptions were used to best construct the graph. As more experience is gained over time better information will be available to more accurately plot completed work and make future projections. Monitoring the annual maintenance program will enable staff to balance maintenance requirements against staff resources, time and budget, particularly as the City assumes more stormwater ponds over time. STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS TO TURN THE CURVE Briefly explain the strategies and action plans you will undertake in the next 5 years to improve effort, efficiency, effectiveness and economy, including at least one no-cost/ low-cost strategy. Who are your partners and what is their role? The City s Stormwater Management Division is Sewer Operations primary partner. Maintaining an effective communication link between the divisions will prove to be invaluable. Sharing such information as: Anticipated timing of ponds to be assumed What design features are working well, what aren t Collaborative pre-assumption inspections Maintenance requirements specific to each location (specific attributes of pond) Maintenance costs Page 2 of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management

3 Service: 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management Action Plan Implementation of technology computerized maintenance management system to track staff resource time, materials and equipment. Strengthen communications with internal partners. Year Over Year Basement Flooding Calls (Is anybody better off?) # Basement Flooding Calls # of Basement Flooding Calls # Basement Flooding Calls -Do Nothing THE STORY BEHIND THE CURVES Residents call into the City to report flooding incidents on private property. These private property incidents are logged into the Amanda database. The City gathers as much information as possible from the caller such as where the flooding occurred (i.e. basement, yard, other). A City staff member assesses the incident on the phone and/or will attend the site to determine the cause of the incident. A staff member will determine, if possible, if the call was due to a private issue (i.e. internal plumbing problem, poor lot grading) or City issue (i.e. surcharged sewer) or it will be identified as Unknown if a source cannot be determined at that time. It is noted that # of calls received is very dependent on weather; wet weather years or unusual/severe rain events will result in more flooding calls while dry years may result in fewer calls. There are many variables which factor into basement or yard flooding; many of which are beyond the City s control. As a result, it is very difficult to draw conclusions simply from comparing year to year flooding measures. Note: 202 calls are projected to be lower due to the almost non-existent spring melt/spring rain, which usually generates a higher volume of calls. The donothing approach recognizes the possibility of more frequent, more intense storms in the future due to climate change, resulting in a higher number of basement flooding calls. STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS TO TURN THE CURVE Briefly explain the strategies and action plans you will undertake in the next 5 years to improve effort, efficiency, effectiveness and economy, including at least one no-cost/ low-cost strategy. Page 3 of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management

4 Service: 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management Who are your partners and what is their role? Internal City Operations staff maintaining aging infrastructure (ie. sewer flushing); responding to basement flooding calls to determine private/city cause of flooding, maintaining effective communication with WADE staff. WADE and Construction Administration staff replacing aging and or deficient infrastructure, educating public on methods to protect against flooding, undertaking studies and project to better understand flooding causes and mitigate future flooding. Public Service Division/Dispatch ensure flooding calls are logged promptly, correctly and efficiently. External All property owners (residential, commercial, industrial) being conscience of what is entering the sewer system from their property. Fats, oils, grease (FOG) are problems for the sewer system. All property owners (residential, commercial, industrial) maintaining proper care of their property such as lot grading, downspouts, sump pumps, etc. Plumbers, drainage contractors, etc ensuring that they use proper methods and techniques to properly prevent basement flooding or lot drainage. Action Plan Educate the public on preventative flooding measures, proper maintenance of property. Use City website, pamphlets, inserts with the hydro bill, segment on the local news channel, etc. Flush sewers on a regular basis (particular attention to areas with reoccurring blockages) Monitor flooding reports in Amanda to notice trends such as hot pockets of flooding areas in the City Update the City webpage to educate the public on basement and yard flooding prevention Promotion of downspout extensions, weeping tile disconnection programs to remove inflow and infiltration from sanitary sewers Replace aging or deficient infrastructure Continue to flush sewers on a regular basis Undertake modelling studies to better understand sources of flooding, identify bottlenecks, implement solutions to mitigate flooding Continue to expand and promote sump pump grant program to disconnect weeping tile from sanitary sewers, reduce inflow and infiltration in sanitary sewers Utilize flow monitoring program to better understand and quantify system response to rain events Targeted weeping tile disconnection (case study: Sherwood Forest): area with high I/I due to weeping tile connections to sanitary; causing basement flooding. Propose to target specific areas of subdivision (200 houses) to disconnect weeping tile to remove I/I from the source, and reduce risk of basement flooding. This solution is anticipated to save 80 cents on the dollar when compared to a traditional pipe upsizing/storage solution to accommodate the excess I/I. Page 4 of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management

5 Service: 3.4.Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management Biosolids Annual Expenses ($M) Projected-No Upgrades Target-With Upgrades THE STORY BEHIND THE CURVES London currently dewaters all its biosolids at the Greenway plant prior to incineration. The current process uses belt filter presses (BFPs) to dewater sludge and the maximum dryness achievable from these units is approximately 23% solids. Increasing the solids content to 26%- 27% will allow the solids to burn autogenously (without supplementary fuel). This will greatly reduce the amount of natural gas needed to burn the sludge and will also allow the incinerator to burn more sludge-essentially creating capacity. Centrifuges were piloted and proved capable of achieving solids dryness in this range. Without the dewatering upgrades the incinerator will be nearing capacity by 207 but with the upgrades the unit will have enough capacity for the next years; a larger incinerator will also require more dewatering capacity and the total cost of the combined upgrades will be in the range of $40-$60 million. Approximately $2 million in upgrades to the existing dewatering system (odour control and are BFP rebuilds) will be saved if the upgrade to centrifuges are done now. Operating costs will be reduced by approximately $800,000 annually with the upgrades and will eliminate a capital expenditure of $30-$50 million (larger incinerator). The operating savings combined with the avoidance of $2 million in refurbishment expenses will offer a projected payback of 9 years for this project. The new system will be well automated to allow increased efficiency with reduced operator oversight. Maintenance activities will also be reduced due to an overall reduction in the amount and service levels of equipment. This will allow a gradual reduction in overall staff using the natural levels of attrition available through retirements over the coming years. With the dewatering upgrades and the extended life of the existing unit, enhanced heat recovery from the biosolids combustion can be explored. Alternatively this would have to wait until a new incinerator was built. This has the potential to further reduce the overall expense Page 5 of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management

6 Service: 3.4.Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management for the biosolids processes through hydro generation. A new dewatering system will bolt on to the existing lime stabilization system (Bioset) which serves as a backup disposal system when the incinerator is down for maintenance. STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS TO TURN THE CURVE Briefly explain the strategies and action plans you will undertake in the next 5 years to improve effort, efficiency, effectiveness and economy, including at least one no-cost/ low-cost strategy. Who are your partners and what is their role? Consultants and contractors. Action Plan Equipment with lengthy delivery times has been pre-purchased allowing design to proceed with known equipment foot prints and this also will shorten the time of the construction project. This will shorten the overall time for the project and will reduce work at the construction award stage. A contract with a specified end date rather than a typical working days tender has been used to ensure the upgrades are done as quickly as possible, this has three benefits: a) it will help get the upgrades done in a more timely fashion so operations savings can be realized, b) costly maintenance on the BFP s will be reduced as they are end of life and will need a substantial reinvestment if they are to remain in service past the next year, c) the space is needed for the Southern Ontario Water Consortium s (SOWC) London Wastewater Facility (LWF). ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND STORIES Accomplishments, successes, improvements to efficiencies, economy and effectiveness in the last 2 months and stories of people who have been positively impacted by your Service. The Biosolids project is also closely tied to the SOWC-LWF as the facility will move into the space currently occupied by the BFPs. The LWF qualifies for federal government funding but must be completed before March 3, 204 which would not have been possible if the procurement and construction schedule had not been compressed. The project has also been coordinated with the removal of an old asbestos laden incinerator at Greenway. This has allowed us to use existing space without the need for a new building to house the centrifuges; the BFP s will have to remain in service until the centrifuges have been fully commissioned which prevents the centrifuges from being installed in the existing press room. Page 6 of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management

7 Service: 3.4.Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management OTHER KEY MEASURES Description of measure # of Meters of Sewer Installed 2. # of PDC s Replaced (Sewer Ops Only) 3. Sanitary Sewer Flushed (km) 4. Storm Sewer Flushed (km) 5. Rehabilitated / Relined (km) 6. Volume of Wastewater Treated (billion litres) 7. Annual Cost of Sanitary Sewer Flushing 8. % of Flooding Complaints Addressed 9. Compliance - # of MOE Effluent Violations 0. % BOD Removed - Treatment 6, $645K , $520k 6, $536k 9, $50k, $455k 0, $46k Page 7 of Business Plan 3.4. Wastewater Removal & Storm Water Management