Wastewater Treatment Plant Electrical Transformer Replacement

completed

Replace two existing main electrical transformers at the City’s wastewater treatment plant. Scope of work includes a detailed electrical needs assessment, pre-design, design, pre purchase of equipment (due to long lead times), design of the associated works inclusive of poles, overhead and underground cable, transfers, connections etc., purchase and installation of equipment. The assessment and pre-design work will confirm final electrical requirements, utility coordination with Brantford Power and costing. Both transformers are 1000kVA/27.6/4.16kV delta, primary metered units which provide all of the electrical service required to run the plant. These units are of undetermined age although field observations suggest that they are well over 20 years old. Routine maintenance and inspections indicate that both transformers have far exceeded their service lives and should be replaced to reduce the risk of complete failure, potential disruption to the operation of the plant and potential regulatory compliance issues. The existing transformers are also limiting required process improvements as they cannot handle any increased electrical load. The wastewater treatment plant is the only treatment facility in the City and services approximately 94,000 residents plus businesses. In the event that both transformers fail there is limited back-up capacity through diesel generators and could therefore either pose serious risk to the environment (Grand River receiving body) and potentially homes in the southern most part of the City.