The Village of Caronport has hired KMS Construction to complete the municipality’s nearly $2-million sewage lagoon expansion project to position the village for growth and protect the environment.
The engineering firm began work on the $1.97-million project recently and is expected to complete the new 73,000-cubic-metre synthetically lined lagoon cell by the end of August.
The federal government is providing $656,666 toward the project through the New Building Canada Fund’s Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component (PTIC), while the provincial government is contributing the same amount. The Village of Caronport will fund the remainder and any extra costs.
“The Village of Caronport is excited to see this project come to fruition. It has been a three-year process to bring our wastewater system into compliance with federal regulations,” Mayor Daniel Buck said.
KMS Construction plans to construct the new lagoon south of Caronport on the other side of Highway 1 alongside the four existing cells. Two cells will be turned into secondary storage, while the new cells will act as the final storage of wastewater.
Village council started working to address the lagoon nine years ago before turning its attention to providing quality water for the community, which took energy and funding, Buck explained. Council has been surveying residents and other stakeholders for the past three years about water quality in the area.
Building a new lagoon has also been somewhat driven by the changes to wastewater release requirements that the federal government instituted, he continued. A new lagoon will allow Caronport to be environmentally friendly, allow a better quality of liquid release and provide better storage for the community.
“We were at capacity, or with the change in regulations, we were actually non-compliant, so we were not able to hold the (wastewater) release for 220 days. It was moved from 180 (days) to 220 … ,” said Buck. “But this will help us more than meet the 220-day requirement.”
Installing a new lagoon with better wastewater management and enhanced technology will help Caronport grow as a community for the next 20 years, he pointed out. About 50 more homes and commercial businesses can be built because of this expansion, while a bigger lagoon can facilitate growth at Briercrest College and Seminary.
“I think it’s awesome. It’s been great work; both this council and past council have been proactive looking towards the future — what needs to be done — and saving and managing towards that,” Buck continued. “We’re looking towards new opportunities.”
Buck added that he was grateful for the support of the federal and provincial governments since they helped make this project a reality.
