One of the plant's design drawings. (Submitted photo/Associated Engineering)

By Nigel Maxwell

Infrastructure projects

Cost estimate for proposed Water Treatment Plant and pipeline project climbs to under $80 million

Oct 7, 2022 | 12:00 PM

Citing rising costs related to inflation, materials, and construction costs, the committee exploring a regional Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and pipeline project in the Prince Albert area, says the new estimated price of the project is just under $80 million.

The initial price tag early last year was around $45 million but soon after changed to $52 million after a preliminary study was done by a Saskatoon consulting firm. Prince Albert Rural Water Utility (PARWU) Project Liason Teresa Hanson told paNOW she thinks the project is still feasible.

“There’s a new ICIP grant (Canada Infrastructure Program) intake that was just released a few weeks ago that we qualify for with our project so we are going to be taking advantage of that,” she explained. “The grant funding would definitely make the project way more attainable.”

If built, the project would provide a reliable and safe water source for a number of communities and rural municipalities around Prince Albert including Lakeland, Christopher Lake, and Shellbrook. There’s also been interest expressed from Sturgeon Lake First Nation and Little Red River reserve.

“For the project to be a go, we need to incorporate a large influx of subscribers,” Hanson said.

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The timelines so far

In January of last year, the Town of Shellbrook and Rural Municipality of Shellbrook formed a steering committee with PARWU to have a feasibility study completed on the building of a water treatment plant and freshwater line to the Town of Shellbrook.

In July 2021, a parcel of land west of Prince Albert was purchased at a cost of $900,000. The site, roughly 25 acres, is located off Peter Pond Road and is north of the North Saskatchewan River.

Throughout this past summer, a lot of progress was made with Engineering, Environmental, and Heritage Assessments.

Associated Engineering (AE) has completed the pre-design report for the WTP and River Intake and is now moving to the design stage of planning. The river intake is a wedge-style intake, situated along the north edge of the riverbank. It will then proceed to a low lift pump station and continue to the WTP.

The water will be treated using the ACTIFLO and sand filtration process. To connect the water treatment plant to new and existing subscribers, three distribution lines need to be installed, one of which will be a Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD) under the North Saskatchewan river.

AE is in the process of finalizing the HDD River crossing report but has had a geo-technical delay. The report is anticipated to be completed by month’s end.

The Hydraulic and Distribution Waterline Route report by Pinter and Associates is in the final stages. CanNorth has completed the majority of the environmental reports over the summer with no significant or concerning findings. A Heritage Archeological dig is in progress to determine if there are any significate findings in the preservation of our provincial heritage.

Public input needed

In an effort to engage the community there are two Project Open Houses planned for later this month. Feedback from the public will be used in the Technical Proposal that will be submitted this fall.

“We are looking for peoples’ input on all different aspects and to give people the opportunity to come and see the work we’ve done,” Hanson said

The first Open House will be on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the Town of Shellbrook’s Community Hall, and the second will be at Nordale Community Hall, on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

Both Open Houses will have a come-and-go format from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell