October opening planned for water treatment plant

The grand opening of Barrhead’s new $13-14 million water treatment plant is slated for early October.

Barrhead Mayor Brian Schulz said weather conditions had slightly delayed the project, but fine-tuning and testing of equipment was now being carried out.

He said the changeover between the old and new systems would occur gradually over the next two months.

“We should be up and running in October,” he said last Tuesday.

In April 2012, Schulz and other VIPs turned the first sod to launch the project on land behind Rosemary Empey Park.

Westpro, a British Columbia company providing services in such heavy civil construction as earthworks, sewer and water, and welded steel water main building, won the bid for the water plant, while the engineering company is Edmonton’s DCL Siemens.

The initiative involves installing microfiltration and nanofiltration systems, which remove contaminants. A weir had earlier been put in place near the plant.

Schulz said work had started on removing old water from reservoirs, and mixing in new water.

“It is not a process that will happen overnight, it will be done gradually,” he said. “We are looking to have a grand opening in the first week of October.”

Schulz praised the contractors for their efforts.

“We are right on budget and we are very happy with the way DCL Siemens has looked after the project,” he said.

To help pay for the new plant, water rates have been going up in stages.

Town residents experienced a big increase last year when the minimum bi-monthly charge for water, covering up to 6,000 imperial gallons, went up to $63 – a 65.8 per cent increase over the old rate of $38.

There was a further rise in March, and another one is expected in 2014.

The provincial government is covering 75 per cent of the project costs, leaving the municipality to pay 25 per cent.

The push for improved water quality across Alberta was prompted by the May 2000 tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario when seven residents died from drinking water infected with E. coli and hundreds suffered from symptoms of the disease.

After a $3.5 million project to install a regional water transmission line from Barrhead to Neerlandia, new filtering technology was then tested at Barrhead’s water treatment facility, which draws its supplies from the Paddle River. The tests were part of a pilot project to see what filtration system could meet rising Alberta Environment water standards.

In February 2009 the town and county passed bylaws to become members of the Barrhead water commission. They approached the Department of Municipal Affairs in August 2009 to form the new body.