The Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant’s $325.6 million plant renewal project is well underway and on schedule, despite minor hiccups.  

This is according to president and CEO Ryan Johnson, who gave the water treatment plant’s semi-annual report to Moose Jaw City Council on Monday night.  

The project was awarded to Graham-Aecon Joint Venture at the end of May, construction began in June and a groundbreaking ceremony took place in July.  

The last upgrades to the water treatment plant were over 30 years ago.  

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.  

“Critical path items are on schedule. There are no unforeseen cost increases. No new project risks have been identified and no major safety issues have occurred,” Johnson told city council, saying there may have been some non-critical items that may have slipped behind.  

He added that mechanisms are built into the contract to keep the contractors on schedule.  

“So, if they missed the schedule that we haven't extended because we haven't agreed to an extension to the schedule, there are penalties. We don't anticipate that there will be any. The contractors have been working very well with us, so we do have the hammer if we need it, but we shouldn't need it,” Johnson said.  

According to Johnson, there are over 100 construction workers on site for the project and it is expected to peak at around 150. However, he thinks that could be ambitious.  

“I do suspect that they are having trouble finding employees, but they have not told us this and we've been pushing to see if we can find out a little more about what's going on,” Johnson said.  

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

Below is timelapse and drone footage of the progress made so far courtesy of the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant: