Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
A southwestern Manitoba First Nation is using $12 million in federal funding to ensure on-reserve members have access to potable water for generations to come. Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller was in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, located 260 kilometres west of Winnipeg, Tuesday announcing $12 million in federal funding to help build water and wastewater system upgrades.
Western Canadian municipalities are turning to solar to power water and wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) as a means to decarbonize and cut costs. The trend is particularly strong in sunny Alberta and Saskatchewan, where electricity is traditionally produced by natural gas or coal. Lumsden, a Saskatchewan town with a population of 1,800, turned to solar when its outdated lagoon system near a river meant stepping up to a mechanical WWTP.
The Province is investing in infrastructure upgrades in Wolfville that will help prepare the town for future growth. The project will improve the wastewater treatment plant and increase treatment capacity, leading to higher quality wastewater and sewage disposal systems. The upgrades include a newly constructed third lagoon cell and protective raised barrier, an improved aeration system and a new operational monitoring and control system.
The city of Montreal is looking to significantly reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions while vastly improving the St. Lawrence River's water quality by overhauling its wastewater treatment plant. As part of Montreal's 2023 budget (presented in November) the city earmarked $682 million over 10 years to replace the incinerators at the Jean-R.-Marcotte plant in Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart and the city's top bureaucrat have found themselves at the centre of the newest chapter of a multi-million dollar legal battle between Metro Vancouver and an international construction company. Metro Vancouver has filed a notice of application in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Acciona — a company it fired from the building of a $500 million wastewater treatment plant.
Today, the Government of Canada, along with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), announced an investment of $348,460 in seven Nova Scotia communities. This funding will help them make data-driven decisions about key infrastructure and ensure long-term infrastructure performance. The Municipality of the District of East Hants is receiving $50,000 to assess current capacity of a water treatment plant and a wastewater treatment plant and compare that capacity to future treatment requirements. It will also collect asset management data for computer modeling of existing water, wastewater, and stormwater systems to determine asset needs.
Thick walls of grey concrete substructure have begun to rise at the site of the massive North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant in the District of North Vancouver. Slowly, but surely, the facility is taking shape. Activity will ramp up over the summer. Additional equipment is now being brought onsite. Crews will be doing survey and maintenance work, building concrete forms for the complex, and erecting scaffolding.
Metro Vancouver is embarking on one of its largest projects ever that will transform the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. The $9.9 billion multi-year program includes construction of a new tertiary treatment facility and a range of ecological restoration and off-site projects that will improve the connection between infrastructure, the community and the environment.
Homes in Carmacks, Yukon, that use the village's wastewater treatment plant are now under an evacuation alert as water levels on the Yukon River continue to rise. The plant is at risk of being overwhelmed, and the village doesn't know how much longer it can last, Mayor Lee Bodie said on Sunday. "There may be an evacuation order coming any day," Bodie said.
Work will soon begin on the Wellington elevated water storage tank. Council awarded the contract to Landmark Structures Co. on Tuesday night during their regular council meeting for the construction of an elevated water storage tank and bulk water filling station at a cost of $9,002,000. This is over-budget by almost $1 million and the budget increase of $992,772.15 will be funded by long-term debt.
The City of Iqaluit is getting closer to building its new landfill and waste transfer station. But not all councillors are on board with the current plans, citing sustainability, litter and contamination concerns. When the new landfill and waste transfer station was announced in 2018, it was supposed to be operational by 2020. But the deadline was pushed back — first to 2023, now to 2025.
The most recent COVID-19 wastewater study from the University of Saskatchewan shows a drop in the amount of COVID-19 virus in sewage samples taken from Saskatoon, North Battleford and Prince Albert. The Global Institute for Water Security's report released Monday afternoon showed a decrease of 55.8 per cent in viral RNA (Ribonucleic acid) in Prince Albert's wastewater samples compared to the previous reporting period. The most recent testing period for the city was from Nov. 16 through Nov. 22.
The entire city of Merritt, population 7,000, is under an evacuation order after flooding caused the complete failure of the municipality's wastewater treatment plant leading to what city officials are calling an "immediate danger to public health and safety." "Continued habitation of the community without sanitary services presents risk of mass sewage back-up and personal health risk," reads the order issued by the city at 10:05 a.m. PT Monday. "The wastewater treatment plant is inundated and non-operational and will be for an indefinite period of time," said the order, which asked residents to try to make plans to stay with friends or family outside the community, which is located in B.C.'s southern Interior, around 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
The latest COVID-19 study from the University of Saskatchewan shows a dramatic jump in COVID-19 virus in sewage samples taken from three cities in the province. On Monday, the Global Institute for Water Security's report showed an increase of 109 per cent in viral RNA in Saskatoon's wastewater sample compared to the week before. Similarly, North Battleford showed an increase of 124 per cent and an increase of 61 per cent in Prince Albert.
The contract to build the new wastewater treatment plant in North Vancouver, B.C., will be terminated, according to the regional district in charge of the project, but the building company says it's still working on it. The head of the Metro Vancouver Regional District says it lost confidence in Acciona, the contractor company, after long construction delays and a rising price tag. Jerry Dobrovolny, chief administrative officer for the regional district, says the cost has risen double the original estimate of $500 million.
Work has ground to a halt on construction of a $1-billion wastewater treatment plant in North Vancouver, B.C., after mass layoffs by the contractor. Metro Vancouver commissioner Jerry Dobrovolny said he learned Wednesday that Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP has "significantly reduced" the number of people working on the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In 2016, town council approved an average increase of 53 per cent to the water and sewer rates. About 900 addresses within town limits — homes that are required to be connected to the municipal water system — were hit by the rate surge. The increase was an unpopular move. In Bancroft, incomes average $33,460, which is about 30 per cent lower than the provincial average of $47,915.
