The Township of Wainfleet on Ontario’s Lake Erie shore has no municipal sewer or water services – all residents rely on septic systems. In 2006, amongst growing concerns about the quality of drinking water, the township’s governing region of Niagara did testing and found that contaminated groundwater in the lakeshore area was caused by failing septic systems.

With 1,200 properties in the lakeshore area, noncompliant septic systems had to be corrected. “The upper-tier government pursued getting sewer and water service,” says Greg Wuisman, Wainfleet operations director. “But that was a very costly solution to the problem, so as an alternative our township council came up with mandatory inspection program.”

The program is now beginning. The township council decided to use a third-party engineering firm and recently posted a request for proposals (RFP). Engineering companies can visit www.wainfleet.ca/pages/index.php/opportunities/tenders and download the RFP with all the necessary documents.

On Sept. 20, Wainfleet held a mandatory meeting at the municipal offices for all potential bidders. Proposals are due by Thursday, Oct. 11.

Field staff for the engineering firms must have Ontario Building Code (OBC) Part 8 certification, which includes completing an exam administered by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

“The initial contract would only be for one year to do all 1,200 properties,” says Wuisman. “From there on, they would negotiate further contracts.”

All the work would be handed over to the winning bidder, and educating the septic system owners would be part of their mandate, says Wuisman.

The RFP also includes a supplementary proposal for engineering firms to bid on all of the regular OBC Part 8 work for Wainfleet. This would involve regular septic inspections, such as for new homes. Engineering firms can bid on one or both RFPs.

“We’re hoping in the end that the inspections catch violations and get them corrected,” says Wuisman. “The real goal here is awareness for homeowners to keep their septic systems updated and pumped out regularly. And those that have failing systems should either get new systems built or convert over to holding tanks. We’re trying to clean up the environment and stop the contamination of the aquifer that’s continuing on every day.”