La Pinière Wastewater Treatment Plant – Simo

Engineering, procurement, construction management, operations.

The La Pinière water treatment plant helped restore the ecological potential of the Des Prairies River, a major tributary of the St. Lawrence River.

Treating an average of 8.5 million cu. ft. per day, this plant serves more than 280,000 people. Its maximum capacity is 21 million cu. ft. per day – equivalent to 200 Olympic-size pools.

The physical/chemical plant includes components for water disinfection, odour treatment and sludge treatment.

It also features one of the biggest lift stations in North America (98 feet deep with 16 submersible pumps and a unit capacity of 500 l/s). The 25-35 tonnes of sludge produced daily are dried then sold in granular form as fertilizer or industrial fuel.

In addition, Dessau has managed and operated the plant for over ten years.

Challenges

• Complete the plant in fast-track mode over a 3-year period.
• Cost-effective measures helped save $5 million on construction costs.
• Respect emissions standards despite the fact that suspended particulate matter amounts were higher than expected.