Water treatment plant where explosion occurred may be demolished

CTV Kitchener: Greenbrook update Damage from the explosion at a Kitchener water treatment plant is so extensive the building may be demolished. Rosie Del Campo has more.

The explosion earlier this month at a Kitchener water treatment plant left behind extensive damage, CTV News has learned.

In addition to blowing the roof off the building, the explosion left behind significant damage to the structure’s exterior walls and nearly caused its ceiling to collapse.

There are concerns the entire structure may have to be demolished, a source tells CTV News.

Region of Waterloo officials say they’re still investigating the explosion and have yet to make any determinations.

“It’s a bit early for us to be commenting on the structural state and the condition of the facility,” says Nancy Kodousek, the region’s director of water services.

“There’s some work that’s going on over the next week. We’re hoping that those reports will be available sometime the following week.”

In addition to the current state of the Greenbrook Drive facility, the region is also looking into exactly what happened before the explosion and what could be done to prevent a similar incident.

On April 2, an employee of a subcontractor mixed up ammonium sulfate and chlorine while pumping  chemicals outside the building.

Although the treatment plant is responsible for five per cent of the region’s drinking water, Kodousek says it being offline has no noticeable effect on the water supply.