Nearly a quarter of Saskatchewan's population gets their water from the same place, the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant. 

On Monday, community members and staff at the plant celebrated the early stages of construction on the renewal project. 

The last upgrades were over 30 years ago, meaning this renewal project is coming at the perfect time. 

The renewal project will upgrade the main treatment plant and the processes and rejuvenate the plant to keep up with the forecasted demands in the future. 

The Saskatchewan Government invested over $74 million into this renewal project, and the Federal Government contributed over $89.13 million. The total cost of the upgrades is expected to be around $325.6 million, with the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation funding the remaining $162.2 million. 

'It gives me great pleasure to be a part of this exciting announcement. Our City Council recognizes the critical nature of the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant renewal, and we thank the Government of Canada, the Government of Saskatchewan and the City of Regina for their partnership to make it happen,'" said Clive Tolley, Mayor of the City of Moose Jaw. "The renewal project will rejuvenate the plant to meet the potable water demands of our customers. Moose Javians and surrounding communities can be assured that we will continue to have safe, reliable, high-quality drinking water for many years to come."

The renewed plant will:

  • Help to address the challenges associated with using current systems to treat the growing range of raw water conditions in Buffalo Pound Lake,
  • Help to prevent loss of water supply to the cities,
  • Address the dated water treatment technologies,
  • Mitigate the risk of treatment process failure due to aging infrastructure,
  • Address the plant's current lack of redundancies,
  • Enable the plant to meet environmental regulatory requirements,
  • Enable the plant to meet occupational health and safety requirements,
  • Enable the plant to address regulatory requirements into the future,
  • Increase the capacity of the plant to meet future demands, to 2050,
  • Enable and support residential and economic growth in the region serviced by the corporation,
  • Enhance the plant's environmental sustainability, by reducing its carbon footprint and implementing the use of renewable energy.

The project is expected to be completed and fully operational by the end of 2025.