Work is underway on a $10 million upgrade to Waldheim’s water system that will see construction of a state-of-the-art water treatment plant, expanded reservoir capacity and the installation of higher-volume water distribution lines. The project is slated to be completed in the fall of 2021.
“We started laying the groundwork for this upgrade seven years ago,” said Waldheim Mayor John Bollinger in an interview at the site of the new water treatment plant on Tuesday, July 21. “It’s nice to see the work underway. This is a big day for our community.”
Excavation work on the new 200,000 gallon underground reservoir began July 6, but the official kickoff to the project was marked July 21. The addition of the new reservoir will more than double the town’s current 160,000-gallon reservoir capacity.
The new water treatment plant, which will feature a greensand closed filtration system followed by reverse osmosis treatment, will replace a facility with open filters that was built more than four decades ago.
“The system was aging and we knew we needed to be proactive, rather than reactive,” said Bollinger. “We haven’t had any serious issues yet, but we knew down the road things would begin to fail. And also, with new drinking water regulations coming into effect, this seemed like the appropriate time to invest in a new system.”
Bollinger said the expanded capacity, combined with the installation of new six-inch waterlines to replace older two-inch pipes, will provide improved fire protection and allow the town to grow in the future.
However, not all the existing two-inch lines will be replaced at this time. About 25 to 30 per cent of the old lines will remain for the time being.
“There’s still more work to be done in the future,” said Bollinger. “It’s a question of finding additional funds.”
The overall cost of the project, funded through the New Building Canada Fund, is about $10 million. The federal and provincial governments are each contributing $3.1 million under the program and the Town of Waldheim is ponying up $3.6 million.
The town has about $800,000 in reserves earmarked for the project, and is also able to tap into $170,000 in funding through the recently-announced provincial Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) toward the project. In addition, the province is providing $276,000 in municipal revenue sharing grant money to Waldheim which may be used to offset the burden on local taxpayers.
“This is a very important project for the Town of Waldheim,” said Biggar-Sask Valley MLA Randy Weekes at the July 21 ceremony. “It will improve the quality of water and related assets and position Waldheim for future growth.
“The provincial government is proud to play a role by directly investing more than $3.1 million in this project and also providing grants totalling almost $450,000.”
Weekes, the MLA for the community, represented Saskatchewan Minister of Government Relations Lori Carr at the event. He said the MEEP funding is aimed at stimulating the economy and helping the province recover from the COVID-19 slowdown.
Bollinger said the town’s application for funding under the provincial-federal infrastructure program was passed over twice before it was finally accepted. But, he added, the community is grateful the senior levels of government came through in the end.
Bollinger said much of the credit for the successful applications was due to the hard work of the town’s CAO, Chris Adams. He added considerable preparatory work was done by Marvin Loewen and Associated Engineering.
“Once this work is completed and fully operational, our quality of water, related infrastructure and opportunities for growth will be improved,” said Bollinger. “This will benefit all who call Waldheim home today and tomorrow.”
Work on the overall project is being done by two contractors, each responsible for their own portion of the job. Con-Tech is responsible for the construction of the new water treatment plant, Garnett Industries is working on the infrastructure upgrades that are also part of the project.
At the July 21 ceremony, Waldheim Town Councillor Jim Magee read a prepared statement from federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna. McKenna said cleaner water will “improve the well-being of residents, help protect the environment and support sustainable, long-term growth in the community.”