It's been years in discussion, but after a tremendous amount of work by staff and council, the City of Morden is ready to make an announcement about the future of wastewater treatment in the city.
"Over the years and many months, we've looked at different treatment options, and we've also looked at many different site locations," explained Morden Mayor Nancy Penner. "We've worked hard with the Manitoba Water Services Board and leading engineer firms, but I'm really excited to announce Council has approved the decision to proceed with an innovative water treatment system that will be built on our existing lagoon site."
Project outline
That innovative system is an aerated lagoon wastewater treatment system, in conjunction with a tertiary biological treatment process. The treatment lagoon cells will be covered with floating insulated covers to minimize heat loss and odor emissions. The proposed system will be designed to meet stringent effluent criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus removal, and provides an efficient and sustainable solution to meet the specific needs and circumstances of the growing community
"Our existing site wasn't quite big enough to support the project, so the City has secured an option to purchase 80 acres of land directly to the east and adjacent to our existing site for the construction, and when needed, future expansion of this new system," added Penner.
The facility is expected to meet the needs of the City to a population of 20,300 people, which according to Penner is projected to be reached around 2047.
Prior to today's announcement, in June 2023, PembinaValleyOnline had reported Morden City Council had approved to move forward with a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) wastewater treatment process, based fully on a mechanical plant at the current lagoon site. However, after the preliminary design, the capital and operational/management costs of the project were discovered to be too high, and further work was stopped to reassess other options. At the time, the cost estimate of the project was $70 million.
'Important steps' still to come
"We're not out of the woods yet, there are still some important steps ahead." said Penner. "We need to secure funding support from all levels of government. We have to move forward with the preliminary design work, and we have to get the Environmental Act license in place. One thing I'm sure about is Council is committed to seeing this critical infrastructure project through."
The Mayor thanked all city residents for their patience during the journey to arrive at this decision, and noted, at a later date, a public open house on the project will be held with further information on that to be announced.
You can listen to the entire In the Mayor's Chair conversation with Mayor Nancy Penner, below.