Under the New Building Canada Fund, the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan are each contributing up to $6,721,294 toward the estimated $21.5 million Martensville water and wastewater upgrades distribution project. The City of Martensville is funding the remainder of the project and is responsible for any additional costs.
The project core is about wastewater treatment quality and capacity upgrades. It will significantly increase the capacity of the system and allow for the City to continue to grow beyond a population of 20,000. It will involve shifting the treatment process from a facultative lagoon to a class 4 treatment facility located in neighbouring, City of Saskatoon. The treatment process there includes nutrient recovery into a valuable fertilizer product used in the greenhouse and turf industries. There will also be an increase in the quality of the effluent entering the South Saskatchewan River exceeding the minimum requirements of the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (SOR/2012-139).
The wastewater treatment component of this project will entail the reconfiguration of two primary cells for detaining peak inflows and discharging to the City of Saskatoon collection system during off-peak hours. The design includes repurposing an existing lagoon holding cell to help attenuate daily flows, wet weather surges, and mitigate downstream constraints and discharge during off-peak times.
By doing so we are able to optimize the use of existing downstream infrastructure, eliminating the need for major upgrades to the treatment capacity of the downstream infrastructure. Sewage main construction from Martensville to Saskatoon is also included as part of this core component.
The second component of this project is to upgrade Sewage Lift Station 3 on the south side of Martensville. This lift station is currently limiting some of the residential and commercial opportunities that are available in its potential collection area. The upgrades involve electrical, control, and pump upgrades that will increase this stations ability to take on new development. This station has currently been under stress during periods of high wet weather inflow.
Currently, the City of Martensville water distribution system is supplied by the City of Saskatoon through a pipeline managed by SaskWater. SaskWater purchases potable water from the City of Saskatoon and supplies it to surrounding communities, industries, other commercial businesses, and pipeline groups. The third component of this project further optimizes the corridor required for the sewage main between Martensville and Saskatoon and involves constructing a water main connecting the City of Martensville directly with the City of Saskatoon. As Martensville already operates many water mains, it is well within the operational capacity to source this directly. This will also free up the capacity used in the SaskWater pipeline to provide for the growing industry in the region.
The fourth component involves upgrades to Water Reservoir and Pumping Station 1 and the automated controls between our water pumping stations. It will bring Water Reservoir and Pumping Station 1 up to modern building code requirements as well. This will result in the ability to alter flows or pressures remotely and maintain a more constant pressure throughout the distribution system. As the distribution system ages, this will ultimately create less water main breaks and reduced operating and repair costs.
Water Pump Station 1 is the oldest water pumping station in the City of Martensville. As the City has grown, minor upgrades and to the building and distribution system have been completed, however, the City has reached a point where this pump station needed major upgrades to continue to perform properly as a part of the water distribution network. The upgrades that were completed as part of this project include a building expansion to house larger pumps, modernized controls, as well as new real-time quality monitoring and process controls. This upgrade also allows this lift station to be controlled remotely which increases its efficiency within the distribution network, and will ultimately lead to fewer water-main breaks by better controlling the water pressure throughout the network. This reconfiguration of the pump station has also created a more suitable working area for the operators to perform testing and operate the station. The reservoir under this pump station was also inspected and cleaned to remove sediment.