New Cold Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant aided by $2.92M Alberta water grant

MLA Scott Cyr, left, with RUSC Chair Ryan Bailey to commemorate the grant funding. Image: Cyr.

Recent grant funding from the province will help move a new wastewater treatment plant in Cold Lake off the sketchbook and in the ground.

In April, the City announced they were moving forward with a $34 million wastewater treatment facility because the current system was not up to standard.

MLA Scott Cyr said on June 5 that Cold Lake has received a $2.92 million grant from Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership. The Alberta government has now contributed $8.76 million toward the project.

“While a wastewater treatment facility upgrade may not capture the same excitement as a new arena or recreation center, it is fundamentally important for our health and daily lives. Ensuring a reliable and efficient wastewater system is vital for the well-being of our community,” said Cyr in a social media post.

Ryan Bailey is the chair of the Cold Lake Regional Utility Services Commission and acknowledged the huge legwork done by previous chairs in Chris Vining and Bob Buckle in getting to this point.

“The wastewater treatment facility is not up to the official standard for a wastewater treatment plant, and so the government was giving the City of Cold Lake the ability to delay with the lagoons until we could get the financing for our new wastewater treatment plant,” Bailey told Lakeland Connect. 

“Right now, our water that we send back out is a lot cleaner than what’s actually coming down the river, because upriver there are things like farms and other things where pollutants and fertilizers and things like that can get in there. So we make sure it’s really clean.” 

The rising costs of municipal infrastructure can’t be ignored.

At one time just within the past five years, a new wastewater treatment plant could run a municipality $20-25 million. That same traditional facility could come in now at $60-70 million.

The City is going for a non-traditional technology that is becoming popular for wastewater treatment called Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR), which will end up keeping costs lower at a projected $34 million while maintaining some of the existing infrastructure.

Almost like a binding agent, these small polyethylene media will create a surface layer for biofilm growth which will break down bacteria, while aeration is used to keep them suspended in the water.

“It looks like the little wagon wheel type pastas. Those go in and the bacteria grows on those, and just cleans and cleans and cleans. There’s a pretty big movement to that. It’s a lot cheaper and doesn’t require as much heavy infrastructure on it, but does just as good a job,” said Bailey. 

Sure-Form Contracting Ltd. was awarded the construction contract, and timelines as of now are to begin in the fall of 2025. Once started, it will take 18-24 months to complete.

RUSC has funded $3,6 million, Bailey said, while the City has set aside $5.895 million so far. He said the City will need to do borrowing in order to finance the project.