Petrolia Water Treatment Plant in Brights Grove Kicks Off a Multi-Year, $16.2M Intake Project
The Town of Petrolia, Township of Enniskillen, Township of Dawn-Euphemia, and Village of Oil Springs will benefit from the intake replacement project, as it will restore treatment capacity at the Bright’s Grove WTP and maintain a safe drinking water supply system to over 11,200 residents in the Town of Petrolia, Townships of Enniskillen and Dawn-Euphemia and the Village of Oil Springs.
The current estimate cost for this project is $16.2M. A funding announcement of $11.9 million was made in 2022 by the federal government and the Province of Ontario. The announcement comes after an application to the 2021 intake of the Green Infrastructure funding stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) was approved at both the Federal and Provincial level.
At the kickoff to the project, Stuart Winchester, P.Eng. from CIMA+ addressed those in attendance with some information about the project and some timelines.
• The Works were tendered publicly on 18 February 2025. Bids for the works were received from five (5) pre-qualified firms, with the lowest acceptable bid submitted by Stone Town Construction Limited of St Mary’s, Ontario at a Total Tender Price of $12,512,773.50 plus HST.
• The Contract was Awarded to Stone Town Construction Limited on 15 April 2025, with an anticipated in-service date of 30 September 2026.
• On-site works to proceed through 2025 and early 2026. In-water works scheduled for spring/summer of 2026.
The Works include:
o Construction of a new Low-Lift Pump Station with a rated capacity of 12.0 MLd (Million Litres daily).
o Construction of a new 600mm intake pipeline extending approximately 380m into Lake Huron. The new intake pipeline will be constructed using HDPE pipe.
o Pre-treatment facility installed upstream of the existing membrane filters, to remove grit and turbidity from the raw water and protect the membrane filters.
The design was prepared based on 20-year population projections and included provisions for future upgrades depending on growing demands in the service area.
MP Marilyn Gladu said, “This is a project that is integral to the future of Petrolia, and to their neighbours in Enniskillen, Dawn-Euphemia and Oil Springs. The importance of clean and sustainable drinking water can not be underscored enough, and I am very pleased to be a part of this project.”
MPP Bob Bailey said, “I am extremely pleased that the federal and provincial governments are teaming with our local municipalities to modernize the critical water infrastructure in rural Lambton. This investment is part of the provincial government’s plan to create sustainable communities with resilient infrastructure for residents today, and for generations to come.”
The project will take place at the Brights Grove Water Treatment Plant (WTP) that is owned by the Town of Petrolia and operated by Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) on behalf of the Town.
The project includes:
- replacement of the existing 400mm diameter cast iron intake pipe with a new 600 mm diameter “open” gravity intake system connected to a new intake wet well equipped with 3 submersible low lift pumps.
- Installation of a new in-lake passive intake screen with a protective crib structure
- Frazil ice and zebra mussel control systems
- Piping connections from the new intake pipe onshore to the intake wet well and from the intake pump station to the WTP
- Process / pre-filtration upgrades to improve the performance-based capacity of the WTP and prevent uncontrolled plant shut-downs during storm and/or water quality events associated with climate change.
Mayor of Petrolia, R. Brad Loosley said, “…Of all the critical infrastructure items in a Municipality, access to safe drinking water is the absolute, single most important component to a healthy community. I would like to thank our neighbours in the Township of Enniskillen, Township of Dawn-Euphemia, and Village of Oil Springs for their support of this project. Further, I would like to thank MPP, Bob Bailey and MP, Marilyn Gladu for their continuous support, and the provincial government and the federal government for the funding to make this project a reality.”
Warden of the County of Lambton, and Mayor of Enniskillen Township, Kevin Marriott said, “We are pleased to work together with our neighbours to see this project through to completion. This is a key project for our community also. We are grateful to the senior level governments for their vision and support.”
Mayor of Dawn-Euphemia, Alan Broad said, “We would like to express our gratitude to the province and the federal government for this funding, and to our neighbours for the partnership to see this project through. This important infrastructure component will serve our communities well into the future and maintain our extremely high-quality drinking water.”
Mayor of Oil Springs, Ian Veen said, “Oil Springs is proud to be a part of this project and identifies the high importance of safe drinking water for our community. We would like to extend our thanks to the province, the federal government and to our neighbouring communities, for once again working together to benefit a large part of rural Lambton.”
The project is expected to take eighteen (18) months to complete. The Town of Petrolia wishes to give thanks to CIMA+, Stone Town, and OCWA for their efforts and support of this sizeable project.
