Scott Hayes | [email protected]
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The province delivered a $1,544,070 boost to the Municipality of Jasper鈥檚 project to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant.
Martin Long, MLA for West Yellowhead, brought the announcement to town during a previously scheduled visit on April 27.
鈥淩ecently, council was presented with some challenges at our own wastewater treatment plant. It needs some significant upgrades. We authorize our administration to go ahead and just carry those on because they're needed in our capacity to serve our residential community with hundreds of thousands or millions of visitors who come through here and use our wastewater system,鈥� said Mayor Richard Ireland during the brief presentation.
鈥淚t's heavily taxed, and it was in need of repairs.鈥�
Those repairs come with an estimated price tag of $3.6 million. Ireland said that council is looking at a debenture to fund part of it as well.
The work will focus on improvements to the now 22-year-old facility鈥檚 dewatering system, process air blower, UV disinfection system and the replacement of a centrifuge. All of these will increase the efficiency of the facility and even improve on its reportedly high standards for returning treated water back to the environment.
John Greathead, director of operations and utilities, said that the municipality has already spent approximately $100,000 updating lab equipment and conducting some major changes to the scaler control at the facility. This was after EPCOR was hired to do a conditional assessment within the last few years.
鈥淚t's just something you do: technology changes, parts wear out or become obsolete. It's just the natural lifecycle,鈥� he said.
The volume of wastewater work it manages suggests that Jasper is a town of 30,000, which is six times the town鈥檚 permanent population.
鈥淲ater and garbage don鈥檛 lie,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do see heavy demands.鈥�
Crews have already moved onto site to start the work this week.
Ireland thanked MLA Long for his work to help in establishing this funding.
The money comes through the Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership. The nearly 43 per cent contribution toward the project is meant to ensure the public鈥檚 confidence in this wastewater system while helping the community to achieve its environmental obligations.
It was only four years ago that the plant was deemed to be at its maximum capacity and in dire need of repairs. Some of its major components were seriously corroded, threatening the collapse of a central structure.
Greathead confirmed that there is nothing 鈥渃atastrophic鈥� about the state of the plant these days and that Jasper is fully compliant with all of the regulations.
This support represents the Government of Alberta鈥檚 commitment to supporting the growing prosperity of the Municipality of Jasper and rural Alberta, read a public statement prepared by the municipality.
