Red-Seine-Rat wastewater plant hits $190 million

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This article was published 08/03/2024 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The proposed Red-Seine-Rat (RSR) wastewater plant has risen in cost from $110 million to $190 million.

“Materials and trades are the two biggest reasons (for the increase). When we did the original budget, in the last year or two what we’ve seen – not just us but municipalities in the province in general – the cost of materials and the amount that trades are charging have gone up a lot,” said Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck.

Prior to the pandemic the amount went from $110 million in 2019 to $135 million. After the pandemic that amount ballooned to what it is now. RM of Hanover CAO Luc Lahaie stated that the total cost of the project won’t be finalized until the final design is approved.

Dyck said the rise in cost will not make it more difficult to build the plant. The municipalities will ask the provincial government for help to fund the project.

“To address these increased costs the RSR Board has engaged their engineering team to identify various cost reduction strategies,” stated Lahaie in an email.

The wastewater plant, which will be situated north of Niverville, will service the RMs of Hanover, Richot, and Tache and the Town of Niverville. The municipalities of Mitchell, Blumenort, New Bothwell, Landmark, Lorette, Ste. Agathe, St. Adolphe and Ile des Chenes will be serviced by the venture. De Salaberry, Steinbach, and La Broquerie have also expressed interest in the plant.

A current wastewater treatment method, used in various places in the Southeast region, uses aerated lagoons. An advantage of the lagoons is that they are relatively cheap for municipalities and their taxpayers. The four municipalities in the Red-Seine-Rat wastewater cooperative currently use nine lagoons and two treatment plants to store and treat their wastewater.

The cooperative is proposing building a central plant into which wastewater from around the region would be piped and treated. Rather than building a number of lagoons, the plant would mechanically treat water and use processes that can reduce water’s phosphorous and nitrogen levels. The plant will convert wastewater into clean water that can be reused and/or put back into rivers.

The new facility, which the RSR is hoping will be operational by 2027 or 2028, will include 90 kilometres of effluent pipeline connecting the four participating municipalities. Lagoons in each community will remain in use as overflow sites. The facility is projected to save taxpayers about $60 million in lagoon expansion and replacement costs over its first decade of operation.

-with files from Carillon Archives