PULP & PAPER CASE STUDY

Trinity Works with Catalyst Paper to Pump Water Into Cowichan River

Drought is a word that elicits fear from fishermen and farmers alike, but the effects of drought extend far beyond those realms. The pulp and paper industry, with its heavy reliance on water, is particularly vulnerable to the effects of drought.

It was no different this past summer for our client’s mill in the Cowichan Valley. Because of the dry summer conditions that the valley has experienced over the past two years, the river level was running dangerously low, threatening the mill, the town and the local fisheries.

Our client, a leading manufacturer of mechanical paper, with customers across the world and a commitment to sustainability, decided to address this concern; they approached Trinity Power to help build a system that could pump water from Cowichan Lake into Cowichan River, to ensure enough water is flowing to protect the interests of the community, the mill, and the environment.

Working with the paper company, an electrical engineering firm and a power technology company, Trinity designed a temporary distribution system to power 20 temporary submersible pumps, taking power from two new BC Hydro-owned 1500kVA Padmount transformers.

Trinity provided two main breaker disconnects (a 1600A LSIG and a 2500A LSIG) to be fed directly from each BC Hydro transformer. Each breaker disconnect feeds a distribution panel downstream that is set up with the required breakers (20 x 200A breakers in all) to power the pumps.

In addition to this system, Trinity Power will be supplying 1000kW and 500kW standby generators. The generators will come online to ensure pumping continues if BC Hydro experiences an outage.

Thanks to the temporary pumping system, Catalyst and the Cowichan Valley Regional District will have the water they need, and time to develop a more permanent solution.

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