The first phase of a multi-year upgrade of the municipal water treatment facility in the City of Brandon is poised to begin in October 2019, with the construction of a dedicated chemical building connected to the existing water treatment plant at 108-26th Street North.
In this first phase of this project, construction of a new building to the immediate northwest of the existing facility will consolidate the storage of chemicals and allow for a switch in the current disinfectant process from that of using gaseous chlorine to a safer one of using liquid chlorine sodium hypochlorite.
In addition, the building has been designed with the capacity required to test the potential of orthophosphate dosing as a corrosion control method as it relates to the City of Brandon’s wider Lead Water Services Strategy. A new ring road providing access to the entire facility will also be constructed.
“The construction of this new chemical storage and dosing building will bring existing chemicals into a single facility, which is undoubtedly safer for our staff, our citizens, and the environment,” said Alexia Stangherlin, director of utilities at the City of Brandon. “We are excited to be starting the first phase of this very important project, that, once complete, will allow us to continue offering a supply of safe and high-quality drinking water to the community for decades to come.”
Stangherlin said equipment and materials should be making their way onto the Water Treatment Facility site as early as next week, with construction to begin early next month. Completion and commissioning of the new chemical building is anticipated by May of 2021.
Partial funding for this approximately $18.5 million project phase was received through the Government of Canada’s Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. An application for additional funding through the Government of Canada’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program has been submitted for the upgrade project’s future phases. These would include the construction of a new membrane treatment facility, a new river intake, settling pond and yard piping, and upgrades to existing portions of the current treatment facility.
Updates on the City of Brandon’s Municipal Water Treatment Plant Upgrade Project will be made available here as the project progresses.
