District of Lakeland Reeve Walter Plessl was joined by members of council and administration, as well as MLA Alana Ross, during Friday's ribbon cutting ceremony. (NIgel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Infrastructure projects

‘This is awesome’: District of Lakeland celebrates opening of new lagoon

Aug 12, 2022 | 5:00 PM

The official completion of a $3.5-million wastewater project in the District of Lakeland, was marked Friday afternoon with a ribbon cutting ceremony and a loud ovation from the crowd that gathered.

The municipality’s Emma Lake Wastewater System was approved for funding June 14, 2018. Work involved the construction of an aerated 3-hectare lagoon treatment cell, converting an existing primary cell to a storage cell, and all associated works. The project was completed and operational by the end of 2021. Reeve Walter Plessl expressed his excitement about the project.

“This is awesome. I mean we’ve been waiting a long time for this,” he said, adding the state-of-the-art aeration system works in three stages.

“So basically when we release into the Spruce River system, which is still quite a ways away, like I think three or for kilometers, it’s basically water just like the same as what’s in the lakes and sloughs.”

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During his remarks to the crowd in attendance, Plessl expressed his thanks to the federal and provincial levels of government, explaining the community is now in a better place with this important wastewater project. Among the communities served by the lagoon are Emma Lake, Village of Christopher Lake, RM of Paddockwood and Great Blue Heron Provincial Park.

Public works manager, Ernest Locke, explained the aeration cells have dramatically lowered the odors associated with wastewater, adding even the smells that come when the trucks make their dumps quickly dissipate.

“Mind you when you have 70 trucks a day, dumping on a hot day in July, that’s a lot of dissipating,” he said.

Locke also noted the 320-foot bank of solar panels to the south of the lagoon are injecting between $10,000 and $12,000 of electricity annually into the SaskPower grid.

“And that amount is about half of what this system uses,” he said.

MLA Alana Ross speaks during Friday’s ribbon cutting ceremony. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

Under the New Building Canada Fund program, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan each invested up to $1,189,575 toward the municipality’s wastewater project. District of Lakeland No. 521 funded the remainder.

Prince Albert Northcote MLA Alana Ross spoke Friday on behalf of Saskatchewan’s Government Relations Minister, Don McMorris.

“As we all know, a reliable wastewater system is key to functioning for any home or local business,” she said. “And ultimately this improved system will position District of Lakeland and surrounding areas for decades of growth.”

Also in attendance for Friday’s event were Sask. Rivers MLA Nadine Wilson, local conservation officers, and community members.

Reeve Walter Plessl admires the new lagoon and explained a special line was also installed with it, should the district make a decision in the future on a different water provider. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell