The sewage treatment lagoon in Diamond Valley will be receiving some upgrades in the upcoming weeks.

These upgrades are required to meet the more stringent release requirements to the Sheep River and help support future growth within the community.

This upgrade project will see the existing aeration system within the lagoon become upgraded, but in order to do so, there will be crews removing sludge from within several existing cells.

The lagoon is under the purview of the Westend Regional Sewage Services Commission, which contracts the operation of its administrative services and its facilities through the Town of Diamond Valley.

The contractor that will complete the sludge removal will begin moving to the lagoon this week, with their dredger arriving by the end of the week.

Once crews have all their equipment onsite, they will begin their sludge removal work, which is expected to happen on June 11th.

There are three cells that will be de-sludged, and in order to help expedite the work and reduce the number of days crews will be on-site, sludge removal will occur around the clock.

Even with working around the clock, it will take between 6 and 11 days to clean out each cell, with 2 or 3 days between each cell cleaning so crews can relocate their equipment to the next cell.

In total, the work will last for approximately 44 days.

There isn't a concern over the noise produced by the generator that will be running all night is a "hospital quiet" generator that has a lower noise rating that many household air conditioners, and the site of the sludge removal is at a distance from any residence.

Lighting will be in place onsite for the crews working overnight, but the lights will be pointed at the specific work they will be completing in an attempt to minimize any light disturbances to any neighbouring properties.

To learn more about the project and to stay up to date about construction around Diamond Valley, check out their website.