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Good Friday and Easter Monday – View holiday hours for City of Winnipeg facilities and services from March 29 to April 1.

Good Friday and Easter Monday – View holiday hours for City of Winnipeg facilities and services from March 29 to April 1.

Winnipeg's Sewage Treatment Program Upgrades - Funding

Millions of litres of sewage travel through a vast network of sewer pipes to the City's three plants to be treated before being released to the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, which merge and flow into Lake Winnipeg.

We operate the three sewage treatment plants under Environment Act Licences issued by Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship. The licence requirements are becoming more stringent with the Province's Lake Winnipeg Action Plan, designed to help protect Lake Winnipeg.

As a result of the new regulations, we must invest over $1.8 billion to upgrade our sewage treatment plants, including Biosolids treatment.

The first priority in complying with our Environment Act licence requirements is to reduce nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen). Even though only a small proportion of the nutrients in Lake Winnipeg come from our wastewater, the new standards require that we reduce them even more.

The biological nutrient removal upgrades will reduce our total annual contributions to Lake Winnipeg.

West End Sewage Treatment Plant

Upgrade description: Biological nutrient removal (nitrogen and phosphorus)
Status: Complete in 2010
Total cost:   $33 million
CSIF funding contributions:   $13.26 million

Canada: $5.07 million
Manitoba: $8.19 million
City funding: $19.74 million

South End Sewage Treatment Plant

Upgrade description:
  • Biological nutrient removal (nitrogen and phosphorus)

  • Expand the plant capacity to accommodate future population growth in the catchment area of the plant and treat wet weather flow
Status: Underway – Detailed Design Phase and Construction
Estimated completion date: Licence compliance July 2020
Completion September 2021
Total cost:   $335.60 million
CSIF funding contributions:   $26.85 million

Canada: $20.77 million
Manitoba: $6.08 million
CSIF funding commitment:   $37.42 million
Canada: $31.34 million
Manitoba: $6.08 million
GIF funding contributions:   $11.98 Million

Canada: $4.83 million
Manitoba: $7.15 million
GIF funding commitment:   $22.0 Million

Canada: $11.0 million
Manitoba: $11.0 million
City funding: $276.18 million

North End Sewage Treatment Plant

Upgrade description # 1: Centrate treatment to remove nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus)
Status: Complete in 2011
Total cost:   $33 million
Manitoba UCPA* funding contributions: $3.8 million
CSIF funding contributions:   $10.867 million

Canada: $5.59 million
Manitoba: $5.277 million
City funding: $18.333 million
Upgrade description #2: Ultraviolet light effluent disinfection to reduce pathogens (e.g., E. Coli, fecal coliforms)
Status: Complete in 2010
Total cost:   $19 million
CSIF funding contributions:
  $5.458 million
  Manitoba: $5.458 million
City funding: $13.542 million
Upgrade description #3:
  • Biological nutrient removal (nitrogen and phosphorus)
  • Biosolids treatment
Status: Planning phase underway
Estimated completion date: TBD
Total estimated cost:   $1.4 billion
Provincial funding commitment: $195 million
City funding: $1.205 billion

*Urban Capital Projects Allocation (2004)

Biosolids Management Program

Project description: Develop and implement a plan to manage biosolids in an environmentally sound, sustainable manner, while meeting Provincial regulations
Status:
  • A 30-year Biosolids Master Plan was approved by the Province March 10, 2016
  • Pilot Biosolids Composting Program initiated May 2015
Estimated completion date: 2022
Total estimated program cost:   $43.704 million
City funding: $43.704 million

Funding

  • The total estimated cost for the upgrades excluding Biosolids Master Plan: $1.82 billion.
  • Other levels of government are contributing up to 15.8% of the upgrade costs:
    • $42 million from the Federal government,
    • $40 million from the Provincial government,
    • $206 million specified in the 2007 throne speech of which $11 million has been allocated in the Green Infrastructure Agreement and the remaining $195 million is anticipated
  • Remaining 84.2% of the capital costs are currently proposed to be funded by City of Winnipeg water and sewer rate payers.

* Costs for the completed projects are based on actual expenses. Costs for projects underway are based on the best information as of March 31, 2018 and the 2018 approved capital budget.

Last updated: January 7, 2019

Did you know?

Service crews with the Wastewater Services, Local Sewer Branch work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days a week, 364 days a year? They work on all holidays except Christmas Day. These are the staff that respond to sewer backups, plugged catch basins, missing manhole covers and street flooding. So, when you see these staff working on a weekend or on a holiday, you'll know they are not working overtime – they are simply working their regular shift.

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