Residents may notice an odour wafting over Cranbrook next week, as workers will begin desludging the community’s wastewater lagoons.
This is part of phase two of upgrade work being done on the community’s wastewater lagoons.
According to city officials, the upgrade work will help reduce odour issues that have been going on for the past few years.
That said, the smell will likely be much more noticeable once the desludging work begins.
“It is important for the public to understand that the odour issues may increase significantly once the desludging and berm upgrade work is started,” said Curtis Penson, Manager of Engineering and Field Services with the City of Cranbrook. “Once the work is finished though, we will notice a very significant improvement in the odour issue – short-term pain for long-term gain essentially.”
As phase two rolls ahead, work will involve work at the lagoons will include berm upgrades, bypass piping and diffuser upgrades at cell one.
City staff said a large part of phase one of the projrct was completed in 2021 and included a new trunk that enters the lagoon from the intersection of Victoria Avenue and Highway 3.
The project was funded thanks to more than $7.3-million from the federal and provincial governments.