REGINA, MOOSE JAW — Regina and Moose Jaw residents will start noticing a difference in their water in 2027.
The Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant (BPWTP) is currently undergoing a roughly $325-million renewal project.
Part of the project includes year-round taste and odour treatment.
“[In] the old plant, we could only treat taste and odour from about May to basically the end of October or early November,” said Ryan Johnson, president and CEO of the BPWTP.
Johnson said the new plant will incorporate ozone and utilize biologically activated contact filters.
“There will be more consistent water than what people would have noticed in the past. So that's easily measured, which we're happy with.”
The Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant adds fluoride to The City of Moose Jaw’s water.
Likely starting in 2027, fluoride will also be added to Regina’s water.
City council approved adding the mineral to the municipal water supply following the completion of plant upgrades in 2021. However, Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo later introduced a motion asking the city to hold off on moving forward with the decision.
Bezo’s motion was defeated, and the city is moving ahead with the addition of fluoride.
New upgrades to the plant will also see water pumped out even with a part failure.
"When a system in the old plant went down, the plant went down, or that process train went down, which basically meant that we couldn't produce water until it was repaired," said Johnson.
Delay in construction
Completion of the renewal project had originally been targeted for 2026.
Johnson said the delay stemmed from the contractor’s timeline.
“The administration building should have been knocked down during the summer, but we just started doing the demolition work this fall.”
Despite this, Johnson said the primary amount of work has been completed.
“For the important part of the work, which is the critical pieces, the process work that's basically done aside for deficiencies and some minor tweaking.”
Johnson said most of the remaining work includes demolishing the administration building and returning the plant to normal operations.
Supporting expansion
Once completed, the BPWTP can handle the City of Regina’s projected population growth of around 370,000 people, as well as Moose Jaw.
“Based on the work we're doing, we should be able to meet the demands in the region by the year 2050,” he said.
Johnson said considering the needs of the city’s future population was an important piece in the upgrades.
Upgrading capacity will also help attract business and development.
“Your water demand is driven more by industrial and commercial use than by residential,” noted Johnson.
City council will receive an update on the progress of the BPWTP in May or June.
