Barrhead County council has hired Mourits Trucking Limited to perform desludging at the Thunder Lake lagoon.
The pumping rate will be $0.0298 per gallon, while agitation should cost $280 per hour; costs are not to exceed the $90,000 project budget.
Associated Engineering conducted an assessment of the lagoon in 2022, and in 2026, council approved a budget for desludging.
According to the council agenda, only two contractors perform desludging in Alberta.
Mourits Trucking Limited’s approach involves mixing the sludge with liquids from the lagoon to inject into soil on approved farmland. One landowner with a suitable property is in support of using their land for this purpose, and an agreement for about 40 hectares of sludge application was reached.
County officials say this agreement provides a land base for about 71 per cent of the sludge currently in the lagoon. The $90,000 budget assumes removal of 100 per cent of the sludge, but lagoon capacity will additionally benefit from the removal of liquids as well, officials say.
