Feds, Province & City Gives Over $180-Million For Water Treatment

A major announcement was made this afternoon in Portage at the Water Pollution Control Facility. MP for St. Boniface/St. Vital Dan Vandal released the news and it involves over $65-million for wastewater and water treatment facilities.

"There are four different projects," says Vandal. "That main one is the wastewater treatment improvements to the Portage la Prairie Treatment Centre. It's the sort of work that's so very important for Manitoba. We all know that Lake Winnipeg has a nutrient problem. There's too much phosphorous in the water. It's killing the lake."

He explains towns and cities must ensure they're removing phosphorous and nitrogen from wastewater before it returns to the rivers that then flow to the lake. He notes this is a priority for both the federal and liberal governments. Vandal says they're proud to partner with Portage in the endeavour. He adds the areas they're deadline with are communities around the Red River and Assiniboine Valley.

Wayne Wall is a city councillor and Waterworks Committee Chair and gives the technical side of the story.

"The phosphorous will be reclaimed and sold as a fertilizer," says Wall. "There'll also make be the use of the bio-gas. I think when you drive by here, you've seen the big flares burning gas off at night. Well, it does that 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Up until now, we haven't owned that gas. It belonged to industry. But we will now own it."

He notes the city can now use those gases to fuel generators for electricity to run the plant. Wall says their power bill per month is currently $35,000. He says this will significantly lower that bill. Wall explains the money should be in their hands shortly, and until then they'll be asking for proposals, seeing as it's a public partnership project. He says he knows of companies in Winnipeg and western Canada who have come together, including engineering firms and contracting firms, to bid on it when it comes up. Wall adds they also need people in place to deal with the legal side, which includes the fairness element.

Wall notes quite a new bit of construction will be taking place. Chemical feed facilities, additional air movement to the current six 400-horse-powered blowers that supply oxygen to the system. He says upgrades are taking place at the water plant as well as upgrades that will be required for their pumping capacity in order to get water to the upgraded plant at Simplot and Roquette. Wall says the new lift station bringing Roquette's wastewater to the city will soon be online. Simplot is taking over the previous lift station and will be performing their own waste treatment and pumping into the Assiniboine River.

Mayor Irvine Ferris weighs in.

"It means two really important things," adds Ferris. "This gives us more capacity to grow more. Certainly, in the wet industry and that sort of thing, we've seen unprecedented growth over the last couple of years. And this sets the table for that growth to continue. The other important thing is that it certainly makes us more sustainable."

Ferris explains the sustainability comes from the fact that they will be returning water to the Assiniboine in a cleaner form than they received it. he says this is important and also the right thing to do.

Portage will be receiving $60,173,336 from the federal government, and $61,139,432 from the provincial government, with municipal funding of $59,711,340. This amounts to over $182-million.