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The first phase of a massive $3.2-billion upgrade to Winnipeg’s main wastewater treatment facility is nearing completion, marking a major milestone in the largest capital project in the city’s history.

��������ion crews are finishing work on the new headworks and power supply facilities at the aging treatment plant, officially known as the North End Water Pollution Control Centre.

The facility, located in the north end of Winnipeg, processes about 70 per cent of the city’s wastewater and handles all solids removed from the municipal sewer system.

��������ion began in 2021 and is being carried out in three major phases, each designed to modernize a critical part of the wastewater treatment process while the existing facility continues to operate.

City officials say the work is essential not only to maintain environmental standards but also to support long-term population and economic growth.

The first phase, valued at roughly $565 million, involves construction of a new headworks facility — the entry point where raw sewage first enters the treatment system. The facility removes sand, debris and other materials before wastewater flows deeper into the treatment process.

Linda McCusker, project director for Winnipeg’s sewage treatment program, said the upgrades are critical to ensuring the city can continue to expand.

“Right now, we can treat for our current population,” she said. “But in the not-so-far future we’re going to run out of capacity due to population growth and also new industries that are coming in.”

Building the new system while the plant continues to operate has required extraordinary co-ordination as millions of litres of wastewater continues to flow through the plant while construction is underway. New infrastructure is being integrated with old infrastructure without interrupting operations.

“These projects are very complex, and we need to keep the plant working while we construct the new one,” said Lana Obach, biosolids project manager. “This is like we’re performing multiple organ transplants on a body. We need to keep the person alive while we replace the kidneys, liver, lungs, heart.”

Some of the most challenging work has taken place deep underground, where massive pumps lift incoming sewage roughly 22 metres so it can flow through the treatment system by gravity.

The new reinforced concrete structure housing those pumps extends several storeys below ground and features thick walls designed to contain enormous volumes of wastewater.

Connecting the new infrastructure to the existing plant has also required specialized underwater work.

Divers have worked nights on a 24/7 basis to complete some of the tie-ins. That allows contractors to do the work during windows when it least impacts plant operations.

Along with the headworks facility, phase one includes a new electrical power supply system. Several support projects are already underway, such as upgrades to the plant’s distributed control system, improvements to primary clarification equipment and the replacement of a UV disinfection system. The UV system alone is expected to reduce electricity use by about 75 per cent.

The headworks and power supply facilities are expected to be completed later this year.

The plant first opened in 1937 and has undergone multiple upgrades over the decades. City engineers say the infrastructure is approaching the limits of both its capacity and reliability and wastewater treatment capacity in the city could run out within four to six years.

The city plans to move ahead later this year with the second major stage of the project, a biosolids facilities upgrade estimated to cost $1.035 billion. The facilities will focus on transforming the solid material removed during wastewater treatment into biosolids that can be reused as nutrient-rich fertilizer.

The new plant will include modern equipment designed to stabilize and process sludge more efficiently while increasing the city’s ability to reuse nutrients recovered from wastewater.

��������ion on phase two is expected to begin later this year and continue through the end of the decade, with completion targeted for 2030.

The third stage of the project will focus on removing nutrients such as phosphorus from wastewater before it is released into the river system. It will involve construction of several major components, including bioreactors, fermenters and secondary clarifiers.

Bioreactors provide controlled environments where microorganisms break down contaminants in wastewater, while fermenters help support microbial processes that further degrade organic material.

The project will also include equipment to capture and recover nutrients from wastewater and pre-treat sludge before it is sent to the biosolids facility.

Phase three has a projected cost of $1.57 billion, but city officials say it still requires about $1 billion in additional funding before construction can proceed.

Despite that uncertainty, procurement work is already underway. Three qualified companies have been shortlisted to move forward to the next stage of the request-for-proposals process.

City planners say the consequences of failing to complete the full upgrade would be severe.

A recent economic analysis commissioned by the city concluded if Winnipeg runs out of wastewater treatment capacity by 2032, the shortage could effectively halt population and employment growth. New housing developments would stall and businesses could face limits on expansion.