The reverse osmosis and well upgrade projects for the Town of Grenfell are nearing completion after a more than a year of work.
After government funding came through, the Town of Grenfell conducted upgrade studies that revealed a new water purification system would be beneficial to the sustainability and growth of the community.
Around this time last year, the well was drilled, mechanical contracts were coordinated throughout the winter and work on the new reverse osmosis system took place over the summer.
“It’s been a major undertaking but there’s not much left,” said Mike Kardash, water treatment manager and RO project manager.
“Yesterday we finally got the well going, so that’s a bit of a big step,” he said on Thursday, Oct. 27.
The second well has been completed and in the final stages of being flushed out and tied in.
“We just have one pump to finish up in the plant. We were delayed this month because we installed a backup power plant and the technician had to come from Winnipeg to do it. Until we got that backup plant on line we couldn’t change our fire pump because if we had a fire or power outage the town would have had no water.”
While the project has fallen behind schedule, Kardash is confident final completion for the RO system will occur before the end of November.
“Initially we were faced with a March 31 deadline with the Building Canada Fund but there were a lot of projects across the country that weren’t even close because of the weather. So we were happy to get an extension to the end of October and we’ve actually met the requirements of what they wanted us to do,” he said. “We have significant completion. We’re just waiting on a couple of odds and ends before we can start the RO system.”
The reverse osmosis system was funded in part by the Building Canada Fund, and contributions made from federal, provincial and municipal governments.
The project has gone over budget, and while Kardash would not elaborate, details will be revealed at a town hall meeting held during commission week.
DelcoWater will make a presentation about the new system and the benefits of the RO. Council will also make a presentation explaining the increased water rates and provide a break down of costs. Kardash did confirm that water rates have been approved by the Municipal Affairs Board and will come into affect in December of this year.
The new well is three miles north on Highway 47, and the new water plant is located behind the carwash on Desmond Street.
“Once we’re complete we’ll have a new plant- all new pumps, energy efficient and high voltage,” said Kardash. “Government guidelines change all the time, but this is the best out there right now and hopefully it will be adequate for a long time.”
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