A new $23-million particulates treatment plant to enhance water quality in the Red Deer River will help kick off the summer construction season.
The facility is planned as the final stage of a $90-million, multi-year upgrade to Red Deer’s water treatment plant.
It is expected to improve the quality of river water by removing traces of chemicals used in treatment.
Some residual silt, forest and animal debris will be cleaned and landfilled, while treated liquids will be returned to the river, said Tom Marstaller, environmental planning superintendent for the city.
The facility will be built beside the current water treatment plant. It will go up on the site of the city’s former water treatment facility.
These red brick buildings from the 1920s, 1950s and 1970s will have to be pulled down before the new plant can be built, said Marstaller.
Demolition work on these old structures, located at the traffic circle on 54th Avenue, behind Superstore, is expected to begin mid-June.
Tim Ainscough, environmental services manager for the city, previously told city council that the aging buildings were assessed and not found reusable, or to have historic value — except for their bricks, which the city will attempt to salvage for future uses.
The new residual management facility, which will be paid for out of utility revenues, is expected to be up and running some time in 202o, said Marstaller. It’s required as part of an updated provincial environmental approval for the water treatment plant.
The City of Red Deer provides treated water to more than 112,000 people and companies, including those in Blackfalds, Lacombe and Ponoka.
The $90-million upgrade was approved in 2008. The goal was to meet anticipated regional water demands to 2031.
This new treatment plant is just the largest of many municipal construction projects that Red Deerians will notice as they drive around barricades this summer.
Others include:
* Replacement of aging sewage pipes on Ross Street, near the top of Michener Hill at 41st Avenue;
* Road maintenance on 67th Street between the Red Deer River bridge and Carrington Drive;
* Road work on Edgar Industrial Drive, west of Johnstone Drive, as well as at the CP Rail crossing;
* Repaving at the intersection of 30th Avenue and 19th Avenue (Delburne Road), in the eastbound lanes to about Irwin Avenue and southbound on 30th Avenue;
* Paving on 77th Street from 40th Avenue by the civic yards and past Olymel to east of 47th Avenue Close;
* Road maintenance on 32nd Street, Lee Street and Lockwood Avenue on the east side of the Collicutt Centre.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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