The bill for the ozonation system to treat wastewater in the Montreal agglomeration continues to climb. Valued at 200 million in 2008, the water disinfection project at the Jean-R.-Marcotte wastewater treatment plant has now reached $ 717 million and it will not be in service until 2025, said the director of the Service de l water, Chantal Morissette, Monday, during the study of the 2022 budget of the City of Montreal.
The ozonation treatment will make it possible to treat the wastewater that is discharged into the St. Lawrence River more effectively. In addition to removing fecal coliforms and destroying viruses, this process will remove much – between 75% and 90% – of emerging pollutants such as drugs, birth control drugs and antibiotics that end up in wastewater. .
When the ozonation project was announced in 2008, Mayor Gérald Tremblay had mentioned a cost of 200 million and commissioning for 2013. A lot of water has flowed in the sewer pipes since that time, and the project encountered several obstacles.
In 2019, the Office of the Inspector General (BIG) raised ethical issues in the awarding of a contract to a consultant and during calls for tenders that would have favored the Degrémont company.
Then, in 2020, two calls for tenders launched a few months apart, one for the construction of buildings and the installation of the ozonation unit and the other for oxygen production equipment, did not allow the City to obtain compliant bids, explained Monday the director of the Water purification service, Bruno Hallé, before the Finance Committee. “We had to review the way the work was carried out to divide the construction of the ozone production unit into several lots. […] We also reviewed our strategy for the oxygen production unit and we are going to go there in a slightly more traditional way, that is to say that the City will buy the equipment and find a contractor to do it. installation, ”he said.
Several elements of the project are already ready, including the ozonation equipment which is 90% built, said the director of the Water Department, Chantal Morissette. “The project is progressing well. There have been significant technical difficulties in recent years which have delayed the project and which have led to certain additional costs, ”she admitted. “For each year of delay, we have 20 to 25 million additional expenses, hence the importance of being able to award our contracts as quickly as possible. “
Thus, the cost of the project is now estimated at $ 717 million, and the system should enter service in 2025 if the City manages to award the necessary contracts, explained Mr.me Morissette. The project is funded at 66% by the federal and provincial governments.
The Jean-R.-Marcotte purification plant is one of the largest in the world and processes an average of 28 cubic meters of water per second, said Hallé.
Water meters
The Water Department has taken stock of its activities for 2021 and its budget forecasts for 2022.
According to information provided by the City, Montreal treats twice as much drinking water per 100,000 inhabitants as the cities of Toronto, Calgary and Winnipeg. “We therefore have a long way to go to achieve the objectives of the Quebec drinking water conservation strategy,” admitted Chantal Morissette. However, she recalled that industries and businesses would soon be priced for the water they use. “The reflection on the installation of water meters for the residential, that remains a decision which must be discussed with the population and the elected officials”, she added.
Mme Morissette also pointed out that the operating budget of the Service de l’eau had not increased at the same rate as inflation, resulting in a recurring shortfall: [la solution] will increase the water tax? Diversify income? The solution remains to be found. “