Report to: General Committee                                                        Report Date: June 22, 2009

 

 

SUBJECT:                  Funding and Data Sharing Agreement with Region of York re Waterworks Pilot District Management Areas (DMA’s) - Report

PREPARED BY:       Karen Dennison, Manager of System Engineering, Waterworks    X 2519

 

RECOMMENDATION:

1)     THAT the report “Funding and Data Sharing Agreement with Region of York re Waterworks Pilot District Management Areas (DMA’s)” be received;

 

2)     AND THAT the attached Agreement with Region of York re Waterworks Pilot District Management Areas (DMA’s) be approved for execution.

 

3)          AND THAT Waterworks General Manager be authorized to enter into and execute future Management Area cost and data sharing agreements with affected municipalities if the funding is budgeted.

 

4)          AND THAT an amount of $273,000 + 10% (contingency), exclusive of GST, be approved under this agreement and that the General Manager of Waterworks be authorized to approve expenditure of this budget amount up to the specified limit in accordance with the Expenditure Control Policy.

 

5)          AND THAT Staff be authorized and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Not applicable

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to seek approval to execute a negotiated agreement with the Region of York regarding cost and data sharing with the Region for implementation of Markham’s Pilot District Management Areas (DMA).

 

BACKGROUND:

 

The implementation of Water System Management Areas; Sector (SMA) and District (DMA) across the Town of Markham was approved in a report to Council dated November, 2005; “Implementation of Sector Management Areas (SMA) and District Management Areas (DMA) across the Water System”.

 

This project is being developed and implemented in a phased approach over 6 years.

 

A pilot project is in progress with consulting services provided from Veritech Consulting Inc. Four (4) pilot areas are to be designed, instrumented, operated and evaluated.

 

Pilot site P1 (north of John Street, serviced by a single supply main along Henderson Ave)– in this MA project Waterworks is analyzing water supply to 151 residential water service connections. The area was implemented on August 2007 and is currently being evaluated. Status - implemented & awaiting evaluation.

 

Pilot Site P2 (south of Highway 7, west of the 404 and north of Highway 407 in Pressure District 6A). Status-awaiting ROY agreement execution. P2 is Sector MA with a mixed service area of  residential & ICI . In this MA Waterworks will test our innovative Pressure Modulation technique.

 

Pilot Site P3 (south of !4th Ave, north of Steeles, west of McCowan and east of Warden Ave in Pressure District 5M). Status- awaiting ROY agreement execution. P3 is a larger sector MA size with 5,000 connections. In this MA Waterworks will test non-intrusive metering techniques.

 

Pilot Site P4 (Swan Lake Condominium Development at 16th Ave, west of Chancery Road). Status – awaiting consultant design approval by November. In this management area (P4), Waterworks will test private bulk metering and review AMR technology.

 

Implementation and evaluation of these pilot areas will enable Waterworks to assess the:

 

·        Cost effectiveness of the Management Area approach

·        Sizing and isolating issues (creation) of the SMA / DMA

·        Measurement techniques and principles

·        Instrumentation and ease of installation

·        Communication methodology

·        Data Quality

·        Construction issues (Chambers)

·        Cabinet design

·        Power supply

·        Interfacing with AMR technology

·        Pressure modulation

·        Water System Leakage

 

Waterworks pilot area experience will result in development of Standards and Best Practices specific for Markham.

 

1.  A staged 6 year prioritized implementation of MA’s across the Town will be undertaken.

·        Stage 1 – System Level (at system input boundary meters, pumping stations and reservoirs)

·        Stage 2 - Pressure Zone Level - Sector Management Areas (SMA’s)

·        Stage 2 – Specific Area Level - District Management Areas (DMA’s) – break down of sectors into smaller management areas for identification of water losses, pressure surges and other system anomalies which merit further investigation by Waterworks.

The SMA/DMA strategy (Master Plan) will be presented to Council in the later part of this year.

 

The Management Area technique once established across the Drinking Water System will enable Waterworks to effectively:

 

·        Reduce discrepancies between sales & purchase volumes through reconciliation of bulk meters

·        Obtain real time boundary bulk meter data (readings)

·        Undertake water loss management (water balance, leak detection, pressure management)

·        Investigate and improve system wide operational efficiencies

·        Obtain data for infrastructure management

·        Obtain hydraulic data for on-going water quality model calibration

·        Provide an early warning detection system for emerging leaks /system problems

·        Detection of system anomalies (closed valves, excessive demands, low pressure

   areas, etc.).

·        Better manage water system emergency situations within these isolatable DMA’s.

·        Focus water conservation initiatives through sector monitoring of residential and commercial water user patterns.

 

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

 

The Agreement to be executed is enclosed as Attachment A.

 

In the process of designing and implementing the pilot areas; agreements were needed with both the City of Toronto and the Region of York.

·        The City of Toronto agreement to build a Town of Markham chamber on the City of Toronto’s property at Milliken Mills has been executed.

·        An Agreement with the Region of York has now been finalized by the region and is pending the Town’s approval to execute (Attachment A).

 

The Agreement with the Region of York (Attachment A) is necessary to allow us to proceed with two pilot Management Areas and obtain Region of York portion of funding for chamber modifications, instrumentation, sharing of data and power:

 

·        Modify chambers

·        Install instrumentation (flow meters, pressure sensors, PRV’s, pilot SCADA instrumentation, communication equipment (radios), cabinets, installation contract.

·        Award contract for installation and commissioning of pilot sites

·        Share Costs (see agreement)

·        Undertake pressure management

·        Share resultant data for water loss calculations and other engineering and system operational considerations.

 

The Agreement applies to two (2) pilot Areas (Milliken Mills and Commerce Valley). Included in the Agreement are improvements to three (3) Region of York metering chambers plus instrumentation added at the Milliken Water Tower. Utilizing and upgrading existing Region of York chambers is more cost effective (otherwise side by side chambers need to be constructed for Town’s sole use) and less disruptive to local residents.

 

The Agreement has been reviewed by the Town of Markham’s Legal Department who have advised us that Council Approval will be required.

 

The Agreement has further been reviewed by the Region of York and is ready to be signed by the Commissioner. The Region of York funds for this agreement have also been secured.

 

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)

 

The total estimated cost of the undertaking in the Agreement (at two pilot sites; York Region and Town of Markham) is estimated at $365,000 + $41,100 contingency. All details are included in Attachment A.

 

·        York Region’s share of the total costs is estimated at $92,000 + 15% contingency

·        Markham’s share of the total two pilot site costs is estimated at $ 273,000 + 10% contingency

 The project’s costs will be funded from approved Waterworks budgets and the Region of York funding share will be re-couped from the Region as per our Agreement.

 

Town of Markham approval to execute and signing authority is being requested in this report.

 

The following table is a summary of the financial considerations (Town of Markham share):

 

Current Budget Available (unspent)

 

$213,361

 

53-5399-7678-005 SMA/DMA Implementation

Less Cost

 

($213,000)

 

To be awarded under this agreement

Budget Remaining

 

$361

*

 

 

Current Budget Available (unspent)

 

$114,567

 

53-5350-8369-005 SCADA

Less Cost

 

($87,300)

 

To be awarded under this agreement

Budget Remaining

 

$27,267

*

 

*Balance remaining to be used for other Pilot DMA related costs.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS:

Not Applicable

 

 

 

 

ALIGNMENT WITNH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

Growth Management and Environment. Corporate Goals of Environmental Focus, Infrastructure Management, and Managed Growth.

 

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Finance

Legal Department

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDED

                            BY:    ________________________          ________________________

                                      Jerry Klaus                                         Peter Loukes, P. Eng.

                                     General Manager, Waterworks            Director, Operations

 

 

                                      ________________________         

                                      Brenda Librecz

                                      Commissioner, Community and Fire Services

 

 

 

ATTACHMENTS: 

Attachment “A” – Agreement with the Region of York