Show-and-tell at the sewage plant

The finishing touches are being put on four massive fibreglass sewage pipes inside a two-and-a-half metre thick concrete tunnel 20 metres underground.

When the work is done, they’ll start pumping out millions of litres of raw sewage per day.

The building that houses them may look modest, but it was made with as much concrete as half of the Canada Life Centre, with still some to go.

“We’ve got at least double that in the balance of the facility in other areas,” said Rob Black, the project director for the upgrade of the North End sewage treatment plant on Main Street North.

The City of Winnipeg showed off the nearly completed first phase of its $3-billion wastewater treatment plant Wednesday, as it stressed the need for a significant amount of funding to complete all phases of the complex project.

The headworks facility, which is the first stop in the treatment process, will be up and running by mid-July. The $565-million project marks the first step in replacing the current treatment plant, which was commissioned in 1937.

On an average day, the facility pumps about 140 megalitres of raw sewage through its pipes to be treated and released into the Red River and flow into Lake Winnipeg. The new facility will be able to accommodate 35 per cent more than the 300-megalitre capacity.

At one point during construction, the project used all the available concrete and foundation piles available in the city.

“It was quite the situation,” Black joked.

In the new facility, pumps will force the water through a filtration system to catch anything larger than six millimetres. Over the years the filters in the old facility have caught an array of odd items such as children’s toys and a set of dentures.

Throughout the process, the wastewater will remain in pipes, an upgrade from the current facility in which the sewage flows openly though the plant like a waterfall of effluent.

The second phase of the upgraded facility, the biosolids facility, is estimated to cost about $1 billion and is currently in the design phase. The facility treats the solid parts of sewage and then pressure-cooks it to be used for soil fabrication and land applications.

The third, and most costly, phase of the project is the nutrient-removal facility. It will treat the filtered waste water that is released into Winnipeg’s waterways and pre-treats the raw sewage ‘sludge’ before it is treated at the biosolids facility.

The final stage is needed for the city to meet its provincial environmental licence agreements.

The North End plant treats about 70 per cent of the city’s sewage. The remainder goes through the South End or West End treatment plants.

The cost of the project is budgeted at $1.57 billion. The plant is critical for the growth of the city, said Matt Dryburgh, the city’s interim deputy chief administrative officer.

“This is absolutely essential if Winnipeg will continue to grow,” he said.

The plant is at risk of reaching its operating capacity and could run out by 2032. The upgrades are the most costly project the city has undertaken, but it is estimated to be a massive money generator for the province and city.

Dryburgh said phases two and three are going to result in about 8,700 direct and indirect jobs over the next five to six years. Once the massive project has been completed, the city estimates it will set the stage for Winnipeg’s economy to grow by about $186 billion from 2033 to 2050, or a 16 per cent increase.

“Winnipeg’s growth is essential for the provincial economy,” he said.

If the city had failed to go ahead with the upgrade, there would have to be a halt to housing starts because the current facility can’t handle more household waste.

The city is in talks with the provincial and federal governments about funding the rest of the megaproject, otherwise city ratepayers will have to pay the entire cost. A city report in November warned the average household’s annual utility bill would increase by more than $1,000 by 2027 if Winnipeg sewer and water ratepayers are forced to fund the third phase alone.

Despite that, the city is in the procurement stage for the design of phase three because it needs blueprints on hand for funding discussions.

Ideally, each of the three levels of government would fund one-third of the final phase.

“We need to have a funding agreement to point to, to keep this project on track. Without that, we’re going to have problems with capacity issues,” said Tim Shanks, the director of the city’s water and waste department.

The city report predicted the federal government would get a 53-to-1 return on its investment to complete the last phase of the upgrade, while the province would benefit from a 39-to-1 return.

Premier Wab Kinew has spoken in support of the project, but said there should be an effort to control the cost. He has not, to date, promised a specific amount of cash for the final phase of the project.

The city hopes to get a slice of the federal government’s $51 billion Build Communities Strong Fund, which was set aside in the 2025 budget for local infrastructure projects.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca