More than two years after a damaging fire, the fully refurbished Wheatley water treatment plant is once again providing a complete water supply to approximately 8,500 residents and businesses in Wheatley and Tilbury, Ontario.
From Fire to Full Restoration
The facility was knocked offline by a fire on September 13, 2023, which was caused by a diesel generator inside the plant. According to Darren Galbraith, General Manager of the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the blaze disabled the plant, forcing the utility to rely on supply assistance from neighbouring facilities to maintain water flow to customers.
That emergency support officially ended this week. The South Kent water treatment plant, which had been feeding water through four interconnections since the day of the fire, was relieved of its extra duties on Tuesday morning. An interconnection from the Town of Leamington was also shut off on Monday as the rehabilitated Wheatley plant came fully back online.
"Wheatley and Tilbury are getting all of their water supply, 100 per cent, from this rehabilitated water plant," Galbraith confirmed.
A Complex Commissioning Process
Galbraith emphasized that returning the plant to service was a detailed and careful process, not simply flipping a switch. "We've been doing testing for about a month," he said. The situation was unique because it wasn't a brand-new plant; many components survived the fire and remained operational.
"You've got to make sure all these different processes come together and work as a whole," Galbraith explained, noting that a drinking water facility requires far more checks and balances than a wastewater plant.
Key tasks included:
- Removing and refurbishing low-lift pumps damaged by the fire's heat.
- Conducting extensive bacterial testing after new filter media was added to the system.
- Ensuring all integrated systems—including alarms, analyzers, level sensors, and pressure sensors—functioned in unison.
"These are very sophisticated plants and there's a lot of things in motion that have to all be working in unison," he added.
Safety Oversight and Future Reliability
Throughout the recovery, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) was involved at every stage. The ministry provided oversight for the temporary outdoor water treatment plant used during repairs and signed off on all commissioning steps for the refurbished main plant.
"The MECP has the best interests in mind, too, which is safe drinking water," Galbraith stated, underscoring the shared priority of public safety.
The extensive refurbishment and testing are expected to provide years of reliable service. The new filter media, in particular, should ensure worry-free operation for the foreseeable future. For the residents of Wheatley and Tilbury, the milestone marks the end of a lengthy reliance on external water sources and the return to normal, locally treated water service.
