Rural community uses fiberglass tanks for wastewater holding

In the Lac Santé area, a rural community in eastern Alberta, Canada, residents with sewage holding tanks must have their sewage transported to the municipal lagoon.

Historically, private haulers have taken sewage from the residences to the distant treatment facilities in small loads.

The Counties of St. Paul and Two Hills constructed the Lafond Wastewater Transfer Station to act as a centralized facility to increase efficiencies in transporting sewage to the treatment facility. Private haulers will be able to transport wastewater from residences to the transfer station, which includes four Xerxes by Shawcor holding tanks.

Later, when the storage tanks are full, the County will transport the wastewater to the lagoon in larger trucks with greater capacity than the private haulers’ trucks.

High-quality product easy to ship and install

One of the reasons Jared Halter, an engineer with Urban Systems, was drawn to fiberglass tanks for the Lafond wastewater tanks was that “they are manufactured, assembled and tested in the shop, and require minimal assembly at the installation site.” When you have tanks that are ready to be placed and connected to piping on delivery, that helps streamline the installation process. It “reduced the amount of work required in the field, and provided comfort that the tanks are built in a shop where the environment could be more controlled,” says Jared.

Bryan Bespalko, St. Paul County Public Works Supervisor, appreciated he “could get tanks large enough for the requirements of the facility.”

The simplicity of the Xerxes tank and the ease of installation were other advantages. The four large tanks each “came on one flatbed truck ready to go in the ground.”

Bryan videotaped the process so he knows exactly how long it took to unload one of the tanks and get them into the excavation hole: “Exactly 6 minutes and 31 seconds.”

Ready access to information and answers

The comprehensive resource library on our website was a strong point in our favor. Jared found all the information he needed as he considered tank manufacturers: tank drawings, specifications and installation instructions.

Throughout the process, from the design through the installation, Jared was impressed with the support he received from our team. Whenever he had a question, sales team members were available.

Quality of investment

“For this project, fiberglass was an affordable tank option compared to other types of tanks, is expected to provide a longer life span, and enabled a smooth installation process,” says Bryan.

Jared concurs: “Fiberglass’ corrosion resistance means the tanks are made of a long-lasting material that shouldn’t deteriorate in this type of application.”

Application highlights

• – Four 40,000-gallon/150,000-liter fiberglass wastewater storage tanks
• – Library of product information and resources
• – Quality product for the investment
• – Smooth process and strong support from design through installation