REDVERS — After embarking on a biological filtration pilot study last year, plus numerous consultations and site visits to other communities, Redvers town council was able to make a well-educated decision on the future of the town’s water treatment plant upgrade.
“We needed to decide exactly what kind of treatment that we were going with because originally we thought that we were going to go with bio-filtration and reverse osmosis,” explained Tricia Pickard, CAO with the Town of Redvers. “So that’s what we piloted because we wanted to make sure that after all of our research and talking with other municipalities, that it would actually work.”
A special meeting of council was held Jan. 13 to review the results of the study and make a formal decision on future planning for the water treatment upgrade.
The pilot study ran for 16 weeks over last summer with final samples collected on Oct. 18, 2024, and final results changed initial assumptions. While bio-filtration alone was able to remove iron and ammonia levels to below Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines (95.6 to 99.1 per cent removal of each measured after bio-filter number two), manganese proved to be a culprit with only three per cent removal at times and negligible removal throughout the majority of the pilot study. The membrane treatment unit, which was introduced in post-bio-filtration and direct-feed scenarios, was able to remove all of the manganese.
“Based on the information from our pilot, our engineer doing a cost analysis (estimated capital costs of bio-membrane, direct feed membrane, membrane and the greensand blend, along with estimated life cycle cost), they decided to go with option three,” Pickard explained.
That third option was the membrane/greensand blend, which has a total estimated project cost of $5,175,000. Compared to the original bio-membrane option, the membrane/greensand blend is actually over $2 million less.
The $6.1 million water treatment plant upgrade project did receive more than $2.4 million from the federal government and just over $2 million from the Saskatchewan government. The change to the less costly alternative will also mean more paperwork going out to funding partners.
“We were approved through the ICIP grant for bio-filtration and reverse osmosis, so before we proceed any further, we have to get approval for a Change in Component through ICIP,” Pickard explained.
During last Monday’s meeting, council approved the new direction for the treatment plant upgrades, setting plans into motion that could see groundbreaking this coming summer.
“We’ll start on building plans,” Pickard said when asked about next steps after application has been made for the change. “We’re hoping to have those plans done this summer and shovels in the ground by late summer or early fall.”
Originally, groundwork was projected to take place somewhere between fall of 2024 and spring of 2025, but the extra research was worthwhile, according to Pickard.
“We’re definitely behind our original estimated project plan, but you want to make sure that you do all the correct steps to ensure that the project is going to move forward, basically how you want,” she said. “You’ve got to do your due diligence prior. We’re very glad we did.”
Some of that homework included a look at other communities with direct feed and bio-membrane systems throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba that Delco had worked on since 2016.
“It’s been a huge learning curve,” said Pickard. “And also, we involved our staff, our maintenance team as well.”
Developments approved
Council also approved a change of use development from Dumaine Landscaping & Disposal for a property at 13 Broadway Street, the former municipal office, which has been vacant for the past year. The developers proposed the use of office space in the front of the property, with a residential rental suite in the rear and basement.
Another development permit council approved was for 7 Broadway Street. Owned by Manish Gupta, the plan is to open a restaurant which will open at approximately the same time as another eating establishment he owns on 19 Broadway Street.
“Redvers Patio & Kitchen (at 7 Broadway), they kind of projected to be open in approximately a month, and the Biryani House about the same timeline,” Pickard said.
