By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
Considerable progress has been made over the summer on a new $19.6 million water treatment plant and reservoir for the Town of Rosthern that will more than triple the community’s water capacity.
According to updates posted to the Town of Rosthern’s website, construction began in April with the staging of heavy equipment and materials and the closure of parts of a nearby walking trail.
The project has a rough completion target of 14 months, though Rosthern mayor Dennis Helsmuth indicated in a recent interview that construction could “conceivably” run into 2027.
With that in mind, he said the contractor has been taking advantage of the mostly obliging weather to work seven days a week when possible.
“It’s progressing very well,” Helmuth added.
INCREASED CAPACITY
The new water treatment plant has been in the planning phase for a number of years, premised on the fact that the town’s existing plant is approximately 55 to 60 years old, Helmuth said.
“While it’s fully functioning and up to standards, the equipment in it is all very dated and crazily difficult to repair or replace,” he said.
The other really important aspect of the project is the new 2,100 cubic metre multi-chamber underground water reservoir, which will add 554,765 gallons of treated available water on top of the town’s existing capacity of 221,376 gallons.
Helmuth said the new capacity is necessary to accomodate the population growth of Rosthern over the next 20 years, as well as to meet the needs of developments like the community’s new Sask Valley Hospital.
“Without (the new water capacity), we had limitations in place on things like residential development,” he added. “To that end, it’s to the community’s benefit.”
In addition to the new reservoir, the project includes the construction of five new water wells, new raw water supply lines, a new communication systems, upgrades to the existing well control buildings and the eventual demolition of the old water treatment plant.
Incidentally, the $19.6 million pricetag for the project is being covered with $7.843 million in federal grants, $6.535 million in provincial grants and $5.229 million from Rosthern itself, as noted by the town’s website.
The federal funding includes a grant from the Canada Infrastructure Program – Green Infrastructure stream, which helps communities to provide clean water among other initiatives.
Helmuth said the “green” aspect of this project lies mostly in the “vastly increased efficiency” of the new water pumps and electrical components compared to what they had before.
As for the municipality’s share of the $19.6 million pricetag, Helmuth noted they ran a levy of freshwater services for a number of years, while the rest is coming from a $5 million debenture.
This image of construction at the site of Rosthern’s new water treatment plant was shared to the municipality’s Facebook page on August 8.