Work is moving along on the Sylvan Lake Regional Wastewater Commission’s Red Deer Transmission Project, otherwise known as the regional wastewater pipeline.
The project in now in stage three of construction, and is expected to be completed sometime next spring. The construction can be witnessed alongside Hwy. 11A.
This part of the construction process will connect the service already in place around Sylvan Lake to the City of Red Deer Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The construction of this line will intimately allow the Town of Sylvan Lake to decommission its existing facilities, as the wastewater will be moved elsewhere for treatment.
“This is part of a broader plan led by the Province of Alberta to see communities from Lacombe in the north, Olds and Crossfield to the south, and now Sylvan Lake to the west all treat their wastewater in the City of Red Deer,” Sylvan Lake Mayor Sean McIntyre, who also acts as the commission’s chair, said on Facebook.
The line will actually serve eight municipalities around and including Sylvan Lake. These municipalities include Red Deer County, Lacombe County, Town of Sylvan Lake and the Summer Villages of Birchcliff, Half Moon Bay, Norglenwold, Sunbreaker Cove and Jarvis Bay.
Included in stage three of the build is the construction of a “major pump station,” more widely known as a lift station, in the town and the installation of a plastic wastewater line along Hwy. 11A.
McIntyre says the type of drilling used during construction has some environmental benefits to the area.
“Directional drilling is the construction method for installing the line, which minimizes impacts to the surrounding areas and also minimizes traffic interruptions,” said McIntyre.
He continued on to say drilling under Hwy. 2 and railway crossing will occur over the coming winter months as frozen conditions are preferred.
While the project is a massive capital project for the area, with an estimated price tag of $41.2 million, McIntyre said the majority was funded through a grant.
Roughly 90 per cent of the total cost of the line was funded through the Water for Life grant. The remaining 10 per cent of funds come from the Sylvan Lake Regional Wastewater Commission.
“The line is scheduled to be operating by late spring 2019 and when finished, will ensure that the regions wastewater is managed responsibly and in a way that does not negatively impact our ecosystem.”
After the line is operational the Town will move towards decommissioning the goons and wastewater treatment facility currently in use.
There are a further two more stages still planned for the wastewater line to Red Deer. The net stage is expected to complete the northern end of the lake by connecting with Sunbreaker Cove.
This stage should be completed by 202, should grant funding be approved.
If grant approval is given for stage five of the line, Half Moon Bay and areas of Lacombe County will be connected to the South Shore Line.