By Mark Ribble
Southpoint Sun
The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission held a town-hall-style gathering at the Wheatley Water Treatment Plant on May 28 to thank and recognize the numerous people and agencies involved in bringing the plant back online after a devastating fire there in 2023.
Darren Galbraith, general manager of Chatham-Kent PUC, hosted the event, which included a PowerPoint presentation, tours of the facility and a lunch catered by Taylor Fisheries.
“It’s been a huge undertaking for everybody involved,” said Galbraith about the restoration project. “The plant was out of commission for 824 days in total while we restored everything inside.”
The fire, which happened on Sept. 13, 2023, produced so much heat that it melted much of the inside of the plant and deposited heavy soot on the rest of it.
It required a complete restoration and replacement of all electrical and mechanical components.
Meanwhile, according to Galbraith, the PUC maintained water pressure the best they could. He said they were happy that they only had to issue two boil-water advisories over the entire 824 days, with one being on the day of the fire.
“One of the local industries did their normal 6 p.m. opening of their water valve, not knowing that the fire was taking out the plant,” said Galbraith. “The Wheatley water tower drained quickly and we lost water pressure across the system. But water never stopped flowing and we are grateful for that.”
Galbraith said it was a challenge to keep the water pressure up but thanked the Municipality of Leamington for its help in connecting to their system.
Waterboy, a company out of Dover Centre, delivered 593 loads of water to Tilbury in the early stages of the disaster. Leamington’s involvement mitigated that.
A temporary water treatment system was set up almost immediately, which operated until the refurbished plant came back online last December. A mobile filtration system was installed to help the process and backup generators carried the electrical load until everything inside was fixed and cleaned.
Galbraith said the cost is hard to estimate but he thinks about $16 million has been spent so far, but added that’s not even close to what it would cost to construct a new treatment plant.
The tour inside the plant showed all brand-new paint and new components, pumps, pipelines and electrical systems. Photos of the plant just after the fire were placed strategically to show the before-and-after effect.
Galbraith said the process took a long time, but credits all those involved in getting it right.
He said the heat inside reached upwards of 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit and melted almost everything in its path.
One thing that did not melt?
A tropical plant that was inside the pumping station survived the fire and was on display at the event. After a dusting off and some much needed water therapy, the plant bounced back to show just another example of Wheatley resiliency.
