Prince Albert city council wants to know whether the city can work with neighbouring communities on wastewater treatment as a way to share infrastructure costs.
Council approved a motion from Coun. Blake Edwards at the recent city council regular meeting, asking administration to prepare a report on possible partnerships with nearby communities for wastewater treatment.
The motion asks staff to examine whether Prince Albert could send its wastewater by pipeline to larger centres to share infrastructure costs. It also asks administration to study whether other communities could send wastewater to Prince Albert for treatment.
The report is expected to look at technical, financial, regulatory, environmental and operational feasibility.
Edwards said he brought the idea forward after discussions at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference. He told council he had spoken with a councillor from Cochrane, Alberta, who said their community sends its wastewater to Calgary for treatment.
“That’s pretty smart,” Edwards said. “Communities working together.”
Edwards said the motion is only asking for a report, not committing the city to any project. He said senior levels of government may also look favourably on municipalities trying to work together on infrastructure.
“We’re all fighting for the same dollar for infrastructure,” Edwards said.
He said the report may show the idea is not feasible, but he believes it is worth examining. Edwards also said Prince Albert could potentially become a regional wastewater treatment centre instead of sending its wastewater elsewhere.
“Maybe Prince Albert needs to be that centre,” he said.
Coun. Bryce Laewetz asked what capacity the city would have through its planned wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
Public Works Director Jeff Da Silva said the first phase of the project mainly dealt with front-end work, headworks and surge capacity to help handle high storm flows. He said later phases would add treatment trains, which generally increases treatment capacity.
Da Silva cautioned that moving sewage through longer pipelines is not a simple issue. He said longer pipelines can change the type of waste being treated, meaning any option would need proper design work and analysis.
Coun. Dawn Kilmer supported the motion, saying it fits with regional cooperation and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
Kilmer said she would like to see the city take a broader look at “regionalism and good use of taxpayers’ dollars regionally.”
The motion comes as wastewater has already been part of recent council discussions. Council previously approved Prince Albert’s participation in Health Canada’s National Wastewater Drug Surveillance Program, which uses wastewater samples to track substances in the community. That initiative is separate from Edwards’ motion, but both show the growing role wastewater systems can play in infrastructure planning, public health and public safety.
Council also recently dealt with wastewater and sewer infrastructure projects, including repairs at the wastewater treatment plant and sanitary and storm sewer rehabilitation work.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
