Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) President Gord Steeves, the Honourable Gary Lunn, minister of natural resources, the Honourable John Baird, minister of the environment, and Ed Komarnicki, member of Parliament for Souris-Moose Mountain, announced a $100,000 Green Municipal Fund grant to help the City of Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada, examine wastewater treatment upgrade strategies to improve its lagoon effluent quality.
The changes will help the city meet more stringent future regulations that will control nitrogen, phosphorous, ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and total dissolved solids. The wastewater treatment upgrade options include constructed wetlands, effluent irrigation, and a combination of the two.
“Canadians want to see real results. Through the Green Municipal Fund, Canada’s new government is helping municipalities across the country deliver results,” said Minister Lunn. “Through projects such as this, we are contributing to a cleaner and healthier environment for Canadians.”
“FCM’s Green Municipal Fund offers a range of resources and services that specifically address the sustainable community development needs of municipal governments,” said FCM president Gord Steeves. “The financing and knowledge provided by the Fund supports the development of communities that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.”
The Government of Canada has endowed the FCM with $550 million to establish and manage the Green Municipal Fund. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection.
“This study provides our community with an important opportunity for public awareness and education about water conservation,” said Mayor Debra Button. “Proposed water conservation strategy initiatives include information brochures.”
The ultimate end users of the treated water may include a neighboring tree nursery or nearby forage crop fields. The study will also examine the potential to use biomass as a fuel source. In addition, it will consider potential modifications to the existing system, such as an increase in retention time in the storage cells during the summer months and segregation of the primary lagoon into two separate cells.
Source: FCM
