Waldheim’s brand new $7 million water treatment plant, officially unveiled on Tuesday, September 28, is working “flawlessly,” according to John Bollinger, Mayor of the community.
“This new plant has been in operation for the past couple of months, ever since we switched over the old system,” said Bollinger in an interview prior to the official ribbon-cutting of the facility. “It has performed extremely well. There’s been a few hiccups with learning all the complicated software, but overall we’re very pleased.”
The water treatment plant features a greensand closed filtration system followed by reverse osmosis treatment. It is the biggest component in the town’s $10 million water system upgrade, which also includes expanded reservoir capacity and installation of higher-volume water distribution lines.
The massive project was begun in the summer of 2020 after seven years of planning.It was jointly-funded by the town, the province and the federal government through the New Building Canada infrastructure Fund.
Waldheim Town Foreman Dave Harms, the person responsible for ensuring testing of water quality in the system, has worked closely with engineers and contractors throughout the construction process.
“Dave is the guy who’s been here since Day One,” said Bollinger. “His learning curve was steep, but he’s handled it well. We also have a couple other people being trained to ensure water quality is constantly monitored.”
The new system took over from the old one seamlessly, said Bollinger.
“We have two reservoirs,” he said. “The old reservoir was connected to the old plant, and the new reservoir is connected to the new plant. After everything was super-chlorinated and ready to go, a switch was flipped and right away we had water flowing from the new reservoir through the pipes in town. There was no drop in pressure at all.”
The new building was opened for public tours September 28.
“We’ve been waiting, planning, and hoping for this day for a long time,” said Bollinger, “A lot of people worked very hard to make this a reality.”.
Randy Weekes, the MLA for Biggar-Sask Valley, represented the province at the ceremony. Weekes said the provincial contribution of $3.1 million to ward the water system project is part of the provincial government’s commitment to investing in infrastructure in communities across Saskatchewan.
Bollinger said the quality of water produced at the treatment plant is very high. One of the biggest differences residents are noticing is how soft it is.
“Up until now we have had very hard water,” said Bollinger. “Most people in town used water softeners. Since the new system came into operation, lots of people have disconnected their water softeners.
“I’ve left mine hooked up, but I calculate I’ll use only about one bag every eight months. Under the old system, I went through three bags every month.”
Bollinger said the new treatment plant has sufficient capacity to serve a population of 6,000 people. The town’s population is currently 1,400.
“We’re set now to be able to handle many years of growth,” said Bollinger. “And once we do hit that 5,000 population mark, we have room to add a second set of reverse-osmosis equipment, and that would double the plant’s capacity.”
The improvements to the water system include installing new six-inch water lines to replace older two-inch pipes. Bollinger said most of the new lines were laid this past year, but there is still another 10 to 15 per cent that will have to wait till next spring. It will all be completed by the fall of 2022, he added.
Areas which received new water pipes also benefited from improved roads as part of the project.
“If you drive around town, you can see that where they dug, they have brand new pavement,” said Bollinger. “They went down five feet and compacted the base before putting on three inches of asphalt.”
Contractors are expected to demolish the old municipal water treatment plant, in operation since the 1970s, next week. The existing reservoir will continue to be used.
Companies involved with the project include Associated Engineering, Con-Tech and Garnett Industries.