Upgraded water treatment plant open in Neepawa
- Details
- Published on Thursday, May 2, 2013
By: Kate Jackman-Atkinson
myWestman.ca
Last Thursday, Local Government minister Ron Lemieux came to Neepawa to celebrate the official opening of the town’s newly-renovated and upgraded water treatment plant. The renovations changed the town’s water treatment process from a single contact clarifier to a membrane system using reverse osmosis technology.
The treatment plant upgrades were the final part of the $7.4 million project to change the Town of Neepawa’s water source from Lake Irwin to the aquifer. The project also included the installation of two wells at Hummerston and Oberon, and 30 km of pipe to bring the water from the wells to the treatment plant.
The plant upgrades were required since the old system couldn’t be used to effectively treat raw water from the aquifer. The project was cost shared between the Town of Neepawa, the RM of Langford and the provincial government.
In the old treatment system, lime was added to the water in a big basin and the sediments would sink to the bottom. The clean water would remain on top and was treated for consumption in Neepawa.
Because lake water has different challenges than water was the aquifer, a new process was needed.
The new water treatment system first removes iron, magnesium and arsenic from the raw water -- and it’s at this point where the water is safe to drink.
Then, 70 per cent of the water goes through three stages of reverse osmosis, which essentially acts as a water softener, making the water more aesthetically pleasing. The remaining 30 per cent doesn’t receive any further treatment and is mixed back in with the water that has gone through the membrane treatment.
The water treated by reverse osmosis has had so many minerals removed, it becomes corrosive to the pipes, which is why only part of the water is treated with this process. This remixed water is treated with chlorine and other chemicals, such as fluoride, for distribution.
The plant has been operating with the new treatment system for about a month.
Howard Buffi, the acting supervisor at the water treatment plant explains that the new water system requires much less chlorine -- only about 18 per cent of the chlorine that was required to treat Lake Irwin water.
In terms of water capacity, the plant can produce a maximum of 60 litres a second or 5.18 million litres a day of treated water. The current consumption is about three million litres a day, although that will increase in the summer and 40 per cent of that water is used by HyLife Foods. The two new wells can provide the plant with more raw water than was available with the Lake Irwin system.
In celebrating the opening, Lemieux stressed the importance of good potable water for rural economic development and said that the province was pleased to be partnering with the Town of Neepawa. He also praised the regional nature of the project, saying, “We can point to this as being a real visionary (project)…(Neepawa) is working together with neighbours in a regional way.
“Regional projects are the ones we want to fund.” he continued.
Neepawa mayor Ken Waddell praised staff for ensuring a smooth transition from the old treatment system to the new system, which was done while continuously treating water.
“We switched from an antiquated system of Lake Irwin Water. We now have higher quality water,” said Waddell.
He also praised the RM of Langford, which was a partner in the water system upgrades and is a partner in usage of the treated water. He spoke about the future, saying that the new water source can be used as a major building block for the region.
Wendy Menzies, a former Neepawa councilor whose portfolio included the initial planning and approval stages for the project said, “It’s great to see it done. [It will provide] secure, safe, quality drinking water for everybody around.”
In addition to officially opening the plant, Lemieux also announced the Municipal Water Infrastructure Fund, which is a three year, $12 million initiative for water and waste water projects in Manitoba. The goal of the program is to assist municipalities to pay for the engineering work required to create shovel ready projects.
In April 2014, the next Building Canada Fund will start and in order for municipalities to access this funding, projects must be shovel ready, with all the necessary engineering work already done.
