Saskatoon's Drinking Water System Expands with Government Partnership

Released on February 8, 2016

Today the City of Saskatoon, along with the Government of Saskatchewan and Government of Canada, celebrated the grand opening of the city’s newly-expanded water treatment plant. 

“The Government of Canada is proud to have partnered with the province of Saskatchewan and the City of Saskatoon to increase the availability of quality drinking water for residents of Saskatoon,” Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale said on behalf of Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi. “This is an excellent example of building on existing infrastructure to meet the needs of years to come.” 

“Our government is proud to have contributed $7 million to this important upgrade and expansion to the city’s water treatment system,” Saskatoon Eastview MLA Corey Tochor said on behalf of Government Relations Minister Jim Reiter. “This investment will ensure future water needs can keep up with growth in the City of Saskatoon, which is now more than 260,000 people strong. We look forward to continuing to work with our municipal and federal partners on important infrastructure projects as our province continues to grow.” 

“The investment ensures City of Saskatoon infrastructure can easily handle high demand periods for water usage, particularly in the summer months,” Saskatoon Mayor Donald Atchison said. “With the new UV disinfection facilities, we’re well-positioned to meet future treatment regulations that ensure protection from biological threats.” 

This project includes the construction of new reservoirs at Avenue H and 42nd Street facilities to increase useable water storage capacity from 42.1 to 71.8 million litres, and new high lift pumping stations at each location for improved efficiency and reduced operating costs.  This brings the overall useable water storage capacity for the City of Saskatoon to 113.2 million litres, including the Acadia Street reservoir.

In addition, an ultraviolet disinfection system was added at the new four-storey tall Avenue H facility.  The ultraviolet disinfection facility enables water to be pumped past a series of UV lamps to neutralize organisms missed by other disinfection processes.  Although Saskatoon’s stringent drinking water processes already comply with current water quality regulations, this additional measure further advances water quality assurances for the community.

The total cost of this project was $77 million with the Government of Canada contributing $12 million, the Government of Saskatchewan contributing $7 million and the City of Saskatoon contributing $58 million.

Learn more about the city’s water treatment system at www.saskatoon.ca.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.

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For more information, contact:

Mark Rogstad
City of Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-657-8742
Email: mark.rogstad@saskatoon.ca

Brennen Schmidt
Government Relations
Regina
Phone: 306-787-2687
Email: brennen.schmidt@gov.sk.ca

Brook Simpson
Press Secretary
Ottawa
Phone: 613-219-0149
Email: brook.simpson@canada.ca

Infrastructure Canada
Ottawa
Phone: 613-960-9251
Email: media@infc.gc.ca