$17-M plan would cut pollution from sewage plant

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This article was published 17/06/2022 (1258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new effort to reduce pollution leaving Winnipeg’s north end sewage treatment plant should be in place next summer, as long as council approves the funding.

The City of Winnipeg is searching for contractors to build new chemical receiving, storage and dosing systems to support a long-awaited interim phosphorous removal project. The effort would reduce the amount of algae-promoting phosphorous in effluent from the plant, which flows into Lake Winnipeg.

“We’re going to be attacking the phosphorous problem. I think what we’re (planning to do) here is a good step forward environmentally,” said Coun. Brian Mayes, the head of council’s water and waste committee.

Key elements of the project would include: a new rail line and rail-car- unloading facility; new chemical storage facilities and tanks; and new chemical dosing systems. Those steps would add up to a more extensive project than what was initially proposed as a short-term solution to reduce phosphorous, raising an early estimate for the work from $10.5 million to around $17 million, said Mayes.

A previous city report estimated it will cost another $2.2 million per year to operate.

“It’s certainly up by over $6 million, but I do think this is a good solution instead of waiting another decade to do something (to reduce the pollution),” said Mayes. “We’re literally building a rail line here, this is a big project with some serious initiative… and this will help Lake Winnipeg.”

A tendering document posted by the city notes funding for the contract requires council approval.

The initial price didn’t include the rail line and offered less chemical storage space, Mayes said. The project is still expected to allow the city to strategically add ferric chloride at multiple points in the sewage treatment process to reduce pollution.

The city tender sets a deadline of Aug. 31, 2023 for the contractor to complete the work. That would allow the city to begin reducing its phosphorous input to Lake Winnipeg long before completion of a $1.854-billion upgrade to the north end plant — which would further reduce algae-promoting nutrients.

The province is pushing the city to complete that mega project by Dec. 31, 2030, though the city has yet to secure funding for it.

That means the short-term solution would start cutting the pollution at least seven years before the full upgrade is done, said Mayes.

“This (interim work) is a major undertaking… we’re going to be attacking the phosphorous problem (much sooner),” he said.

Once the interim solution and phase two of the plant upgrade is completed, Mayes said the city hopes to reduce phosphorous in the plant’s effluent to 1 milligram per litre or less, which would meet a provincial target.

An environmental scientist who has lobbied the city to speed up efforts to combat the pollution welcomed the latest proposal.

“This is something that we’ve been pushing for for years and this is a really important step forward in reducing the impact of the phosphorous load from the plant,” said Alexis Kanu, executive director of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation.

Kanu hopes this “critical first step” to reducing water pollution that fuels algae blooms on Lake Winnipeg will inspire other sectors and governments to reduce their own phosphorous contributions to the lake.

“We’re glad the city is leading the way because it does encourage all the other contributors of phosphorous along the watershed to step up and take responsibility (too),” said Kanu.

The city is expected to release more details of the short-term phosphorous reduction plan next week.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga