After more than two years of work on the project, Borden finally has their new reverse osmosis system up and running and providing great water quality to the homes in the village.
The changeover occurred the evening of Sept. 15 when they flipped the switch and opened the fire hydrants to clean out the old water.
Council and staff held an open house Sept. 16, giving residents the opportunity to view the old and new water treatment plant, eat donuts and drink the new water.
Jim Buckingham, who was town maintenance man for 23 years at Shellbrook, has been working at the plant since spring, getting everything up and running. He is a licensed operator through Sask. Environment/SaskWater.
Buckingham says that the water is pure and clear with no sediment and is a level 2 while the old water was a level 1.
Once the rest of the storage tanks are installed, they will have more holding capacity than Langham. The village was hoping to have everything completed by Dec. 31 as the old plant has to be removed, new distributor pumps installed and a new pipeline put in the plant. They are hoping to move the old pump to the lift station for the sewer system.
Don Hebig, who is assistant manager of town maintenance, will take training to operate the plant. He will be taking classes over the next four years to do that and become a licensed operator.
