New well for Schomberg planned for Western Avenue
By Bill Rea

Schomberg’s new water supply is going to come with mains running under the local fairgrounds and no new massive storage tank.

That is contained in the latest proposal coming from York Region, which was outlined last Tuesday at an open house session.

There will also have to be a new well, and the current plan is to put it near the existing well site on Western Avenue, across the street from the local arena.

Expanded water supply and storage capacity is required to meet the anticipated growth in the village, as set out in the Schomberg Community Plan. As well, there has been a desire identified to improve water quality in the village. Material posted by the Region at last week’s session stated the local water contains such substances as iron, manganese, methane and ammonia. While it was stressed the water is safe, removing these materials will improve its appearance and allow for more stable chlorine residual throughout the system.

The community plan calls for the population to increase in Schomberg from 1,699 to 3,076, and there are provisions for industrial and commercial growth too. The region has said that will increase water demand from the current level of roughly 1,582 cubic metres per day to about 5,435. The existing well capacity is only about 3,927, which means an additional 1,508 cubic metres per day is needed. As well, studies have indicated there is enough capacity at the Western Avenue well site to provide the needed supply. Drilling and testing is being conducted to confirm that.

A new well has been drilled, but there is still testing that needs to be completed. That includes a 72-hour pump test to assess the potential zone of influence and capacity. That’s slated to take place later this month. As well, there will have to be a hydrogeological report on it, as well as a long-term monitoring program and an application for a permit to take water will have to go to the Ministry of the Environment.

Gary Scott, of MacViro Consultants, said the new well is to be about the same depth as the existing one (roughly 300 feet).

“We’re pretty sure the quality is going to be about the same,” he commented.

He added capacity shouldn’t be an issue, and the main potential problem would be in actually getting the water out. Scott said if it can’t be done, they will have to find another site.

But he added they are confident this will work. He said putting in the well is a significant investment, on the order of $250,000, and they wouldn’t have gone to such expense had they not been confident.

Improving the aesthetic water quality will require a new treatment facility, which will consist of filtration, disinfection and chloramination. The Region has concluded the western Avenue site is the best location for this too.

Water coming from the other well, located around the south end of the fairgrounds, will have to be treated too, and that will require mains that go under either the grounds or Main Street to reach the proposed treatment plant.

The fairgrounds alternative is favoured on a number of levels. Regional staff said it will have much less impact on local social and economic activities, it will be a lot cheaper than going under Main Street, it will have minimal impact on existing services and the construction period will be shorter. Scott said there have

been indications from the Schomberg Agricultural Society that they are willing to go along with the installation. The mains would likely go in sometime in the summer of 2007, and he said the scheduled will be coordinated so it won’t conflict with Schomberg Fair in May.

The Region reported there are no provincial environmentally sensitive areas affected by this work, and neither is the Oak Ridges Moraine, but the village is within the provincial Greenbelt, and it sits on a complex system of aquifers.

The proposed site for the new well is appealing to the Region because the groundwater supply there is protected by about 70 metres of clay. As well, Regional staff pointed out water has been taken from this site for years with little change to the levels, and the fact that York already owns the site simplifies things.

The Region has also been considering options for water storage. There is already the one storage tank, standing 40 metres in height in the southwest area of the village, and the possibility of another one was studied. Two areas were looked at; one in the vicinity of the existing tank and the other covering the areas to the north, where much of the development is slated to take place. Regional staff said they favoured the northern area, but added the real preferred alternative would be an integrated storage and treatment facility on Western Avenue. They pointed out it would only cost about $1.6 million, as opposed to $2.3 million for the tank.

Scott said they were seeking public reaction to what had been proposed.

There wasn’t a big crowd at last week’s session. He said there were some residents of New Tecumseth on hand, concerned about possible impacts on their wells from the additional water draw in Schomberg. Scott didn’t think there

was much need for concern. They will monitoring more than 30 wells, many in New Tecumseth, during the 72-

hour pumping test. “The expectation is we will not meaningfully affect their wells,” he remarked.