YORKTON - Planning is still in its early stages toward the eventual construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Plant in Yorkton, but the public were offered a look with an open house Wednesday.
While the event was sparsely attended, those who did take it in were given an opportunity to get an early look at what is being developed.
The renewal project has actually been underway for some time, having launched in 2019, as a collaborative effort involving consultants from KGS Group, Jacobs, and representatives from the City of Yorkton.
The project focus is the planning, design, and revitalization of the existing treatment plant, originally constructed in the 1950’s and last expanded 34 years ago.
“This initiative was driven due to an escalation of equipment failures stemming from numerous components of the treatment process exceeding their intended operational lifespans, with several systems now classified in a failure state,” said Connor Hunt – Director of Environmental Services, with the city.
The renewal has now entered the Preliminary Design Phase, with the project at approximately 10 per cent design.
“Current efforts are focused on regulatory analysis, stakeholder consultations, and advancing the design to the 30 per cent milestone. This phase will refine capital cost estimates and lay the groundwork to begin the detailed design stage,” he said.
The new facility will have expanded capacity, one allowing for continued modest population growth in Yorkton, and to allow further ‘wet’ industry developments such as the canola crush facilities, said Hunt. That planning element would allow Yorkton to become the wet agriculture processing centre for Saskatchewan.
That level of development should be achieved later this year, at which time the public will be invited for another look, said Hunt.
At that point of planning things are likely to sit until funding to allow the build to actually happen is secured.
How much money will be required is still not fully known, explained Hunt.
The last somewhat comparable build was in Lloydminster in 2020 at a cost of near $80 million.
And today, more is expected by regulation.
As planning continues things are also changing in terms of what will ultimately be required components of the new build.
For example, The Water Security Agency issued a new operating permit for the WPCP, effective from 2025 through 2030, which includes a new limit on E. coli concentrations, Hunt explained at a recent meeting of Yorkton Council.
“It is important to state that the existing facility was not designed to address; and cannot be modified to address total coliforms, including E. coli without significant capital investment. This to say; the plant is expected to enter into, and remain in a continuous state of contravention until the renewal project is completed. This regulatory change emphasizes the urgency of advancing through the pre-design and detailed design phases irrespective of receiving necessary funds,” explained Hunt to Council.
Wednesday Hunt told Yorkton This Week the current facility does not have the capability to meet the new requirements.
“We’re trying our best to mitigate the situation,” he said.
The technology required will add costs to the build.
With a cost unknown but given the Lloydminster experience, passage of time which means inflationary costs, and new regulations, the facility will likely cost well above $100 million, said Hunt.
Hunt added the city is not likely to pay the entire cost, with a usual expectation that it would be cost-shared with the provincial and federal governments both contributing at least one-third of costs.
