Open House for new Waste Water Treatment Plant project
The City of Selkirk is inviting residents to an Open House on Wednesday, September 6 to share details of the new Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) project. The plant was among the capital projects identified by the City of Selkirk in its 2017 budget. Planning and design of the new facility is now well underway.
The event will be held in the Banquet Hall of the Selkirk Recreation Complex from 5 to 8 pm. Residents are welcome to attend and learn more about the project ahead.
“The existing plant was built in 1976 and has now reached the end of its life cycle,” Mayor Larry Johannson said. “We now have an opportunity to build a facility that we believe will make our city a provincial leader in wastewater management.”
After an extensive study, it became apparent that renovating the existing facility would not be cost–effective.
State-of-the-art Design
The new facility’s design features a membrane treatment process to provide the highest quality effluent (treated wastewater) for the environment, the Red River and Lake Winnipeg in particular. The City of Selkirk worked with an independent, third–party engineering firm and reviewed seven different types of process systems where the membrane treatment system was determined the best process. Membrane bioreactors are used as an integral part of wastewater treatment, to create high quality water for reuse, and are considered state–of–the–art technology.
As provincial regulations on wastewater have changed recently, the city’s existing plant cannot meet the new requirements. Utilizing the membrane process, however, will ensure the city is now compliant and will be when and if provincial or federal regulations change again in the future.
Environmental Stewardship
“The City of Selkirk is taking a lead role on environmental stewardship of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg by ensuring that we are becoming part of the solution and not adding to the problem,” said Duane Nicol, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer. “By producing high quality effluent, the city also has the potential to attract industry to utilize this water for industrial or commercial re-use.”
Offering purified wastewater to industry can potentially assist the aquafer – the underground water source – to be more sustainable due to the reduction of water being taken from it.
The new facility will also have the ability to expand modularly to align with future growth in the region without the need for any re–design or major construction. The city is planning for growth that is flexible and cost effective.
“This new plant has to serve us for the next 40 years, a lot of thought has been given to regional service, growth and environmental protection,” Nicol said. “Future proofing has been at the forefront of this project.”
The WWTP project delivers on the City of Selkirk’s Strategic Plan by improving the city’s practices and services as they relate to environmental protection.
