After more than a decade of negotiations, a deal that would see Martensville’s sewer system connect to the City of Saskatoon’s wastewater treatment plant is nearing the finish line.

The project includes a gravity-fed wastewater pipeline from Martensville to the City of Saskatoon’s Biosolids Handling Facility, colloquially known as ‘The North 40’, located at the intersection of Township Road 382 and Range Road 3050 in Corman Park north of Saskatoon and east of Highway 11.

The proposed pipeline would connect to a new lift station at the North 40 site, and from there to another proposed pipeline connected to the wastewater treatment plant in Saskatoon’s north end.

The City of Saskatoon and City of Martensville are utilizing federal funding programs to help pay for the joint project, with each municipality also contributing directly to the capital cost.

The detailed design and  alignment of the pipeline are expected to be completed later this year. The overall price tag will depend on the final design.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2026. The pipeline is anticipated to have a life expectancy of 50 years.

Once the infrastructure is operational, Saskatoon will treat Martensville’s wastewater for a prescribed fee based on volume. Martensville will also pay an additional annual fee to cover the capital cost of replacing the pipeline in the future.

At the present time, the City of Martensville uses lagoons to treat its wastewater, which is then discharged into Opimihaw Creek and eventually into the South Saskatchewan River.

For the past ten years, the City of Martensville and City of Saskatoon have been negotiating an agreement to connect Martensville’s wastewater system into Saskatoon’s so that effluent can be treated at Saskatoon’s plant and brought up to a higher environmental quality standard before being released into the river.

The wastewater pipeline is part of a larger project. Discussions on linking Saskatoon and Martensville’s potable water systems are also ongoing, but no draft agreement on that part of the overall project has yet been tabled.

WASTEWATER RATES

While the wastewater pipeline is still in the design stage, the price Saskatoon will charge Martensville for treating wastewater is now known.

Martensville will pay the same wastewater rate as commercial enterprises in Saskatoon. In addition, Martensville will be charged an annual fee based on 2% of the value of the capital replacement of a pipeline connecting the biosolids handling facility to the wastewater treatment plant.

A draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two municipalities on the new rate structure for wastewater treatment was tabled at the Martensville City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 4.

Martensville Mayor Kent Muench said he’s encouraged to see the progress being made on the agreement, noting it’s been a long time in the works.

The MOU, known as the ‘Martensville Sewer Rate Framework’, was also on the agenda at the City of Saskatoon Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on June 4.

Both city councils are expected to vote on the proposed MOU in the next few weeks.

In its report to Saskatoon’s Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services committee meeting June 4, Saskatoon’s administration recommended charging Martensville the commercial rate for wastewater, despite Martensville being largely residential.

“The commercial rate also provides protection to the City (of Saskatoon) with the high strength wastewater surcharge such that if the development mix of Martensville changes, appropriate charges for wastewater are built in,” stated the report.

The City of Saskatoon estimates it will generate annual revenue of $115,000 once the wastewater pipeline is up and running, based on Martensville’s population of 12,000 people generating 220 litres per capita per day of wastewater.

The MOU states that:

“The volumetric charge to the City of Martensville for wastewater treatment be equal to the commercial volumetric rate in City of Saskatoon Bylaw No. 9466, the Sewer Use Bylaw, 2017, and subject to any high strength wastewater surcharges should the quality of Martensville’s wastewater be of that quality; and,

“That the City of Martensville be charged a 2% per year capital replacement value of the pipeline connecting the Biosolids Handling Facility to the Wastewater Treatment Plant for pipeline asset management.”

‘Volumetric charges’ refer to charges based on service and volume, and include costs related to operations, distribution and collection, and capital projects.

Current volumetric charges for commercial entities in Saskatoon, according to the City of Saskatoon website, are:

* water ($4.244 per 100 cubic feet per month);

* wastewater ($3.386 per 100 cubic feet per month);

* infrastructure ($3.364 per 100 cubic feet per month).

The total combined commercial charge for water, wastewater and infrastructure in Saskatoon is $10.994 per 100 cubic feet per month.

Saskatoon’s residential wastewater rate is lower than its commercial wastewater rate. However, when water and infrastructure charges are also taken into account, the overall residential rate for all three combined is higher than the Saskatoon combined commercial rate

Martensville will set its own residential and commercial wastewater rates to cover its costs.