Carlington Pump Station Design Field Work

Carlington Pump Station Design Field Work

Carlington Pump Station Design Field Work

As part of the preliminary design phase of the planned expanded Carlington Pumping Station, the City of Ottawa will be conducting locates of the existing water main at the pumping station site. Location services are expected to take place this week. The excavations are on the east side of the reservoir within the asphalt area and also at the southwest corner below the reservoir and near the existing Station building gate. The public can still access the area but not the individual work areas.

Background Information – Carling Pump Station

This project consists of the construction of a new drinking water pump station on the same side of the Carlington Reservoir as the existing Carlington Pump Station (CPS). New large diameter watermain pipe and valve chambers will be installed within the yard of the station from the east side of the existing reservoir to the new Station on the west side and then connections made to the existing water distribution system. A new hydro feed will be installed from Clyde Avenue to the west to the new Station. The existing station will be demolished  and old watermains will be abandoned after the new station is put into service.

The original station was constructed in 1963. It draws water directly from the adjacent reservoir and supplies a population of over 250,000. The City of Ottawa is divided into various water system pressure zones based on providing customers with an appropriate minimum and maximum water pressure.

The expansion is necessary since the City of Ottawa 2009 Infrastructure Master Plan (IMP) identified the need for additional capacity at the CPS. The output of this station is limited by pump capacity and the diameter of the suction and discharge piping near the station. Improvements are needed so that this Station can provide adequate emergency supply to the different pressure zones. These improvements will also add capacity to accommodate projected peak demands of urban growth in these zones. This project will improve the reliability of supply to both existing and future development.

The benefits of the new station to the community can be summarized by the project objectives:

  1. Expand station capability of providing the back-up source of water significantly to satisfy the total demand to the year 2060.
  2. Address the current constraints on station capacity imposed by available pump capacity and the existing diameter of suction and discharge watermain pipe.

These objectives result in the benefit of improved drinking water system reliability now and into the future.

The work will entail one year of design and approximately one and a half years of continuous construction. The existing station will remain in service until the construction of the new station and watermain pipe are complete and ready for tie-in connections. Carlington Park will remain accessible to the public outside of construction areas. At this time, project timelines have not been identified. I will keep the community apprised of future construction dates.