Sewer study starts
The study being undertaken on the performance of Kahnawake’s sewer system is being done to check for things like damage or other disruptions, like clogs. Courtesy Mohawk Council of Kahnawake
SIMO Management Inc., a company from outside the territory that specializes in management of water utilities networks, will be in Kahnawake starting this week to monitor the performance of the sewer network.
A similar study was conducted in the fall by SIMO, but the director of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK)’s Capital Unit, Brendan Montour, believes that this time of year is an optimal time to test waterflow and the integrity of the network.
“With the rain and snow melt, the amount of water in the ground is kind of saturated right now. That’s a good time for them to test the flows, at this time of year,” said Montour.
“If there are any leaks in the system, we’ll probably be seeing that as groundwater coming into the sewer network.”
The Capital Unit has identified 11 spots in the network to monitor, where SIMO has installed monitoring devices in the pipes to verify what the water flow is like as well as find potential problems. The 11 spots were identified using data from their monitoring in the fall, Montour said.
Apart from the weekly verifications that might impede a street for a short period of time, Montour said disruptions should be minimal, and no water shutoffs are expected because of the installation or verification.
“The only time you’re probably going to see them work is when they’re going around the community doing verifications, and they have their marked trucks with an arrow board and flashing lights, trying to stay out of traffic,” said Montour.
Data collection will take place until June 30, with SIMO coming about once per week to verify the devices, to collect a large enough sample and allow for quick notification if something abnormal is found quickly in one of the areas, according to Montour.
The monitoring by SIMO is part of a broader project to verify the health of the sewer system in Kahnawake, as some portions of the network are almost a half-century old.
“It will be reviewed by an engineering team, and we’re going to see if there’s any more interventions or if there are going to be repairs,” said Montour.
He said that there will be an inspection using cameras in areas that are potentially in need of further work.
“There’s going to be certain sections that this sampling campaign could point out that might need some closer investigation. That’s when we’ll have the camera inspections. They put a camera in the pipe, and they record, to check if there are any cracks, holes, or misalignment of the pipes,” said Montour.
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If necessary, repairs and replacement work will be planned out following the investigations.
