‘The wait was worth it’: Rouleau, Wilcox celebrate new water treatment plant
Residents in Rouleau and Wilcox and surrounding rural municipalities can enjoy clean, quality drinking water now that construction of a new water treatment SODQW LV ¿QLVKHG
More than a dozen people — includLQJ ERWK PD\RUV PXQLFLSDO RI¿FLDOV SURvincial dignitaries, and project contractors ² JDWKHUHG LQ 5RXOHDX RQ 6HSW IRU D grand opening ceremony to celebrate the
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HFWThe plant has been operational for VHYHUDO ZHHNV $ERXW SHRSOH HDFK OLYH LQ 5RXOHDX DQG :LOFR[ DQG ZLOO EHQH¿W along with regional landowners and busiQHVVHV
³,W¶V UHDOO\ JRRG :LOFR[ 0D\RU :D\QH +RIIDUW DQG , DQG D IHZ RWKHUV KDYH EHHQ ZDLWLQJ D ORQJ WLPH IRU ,W¶V great to see it happen,” said Grant Clarke, 5RXOHDX PD\RU DQG HYHQW 0&
“It takes planning and working and ZRUNLQJ WRJHWKHU « %XW ,¶OO WHOO \D WKH ZDLW ZDV ZRUWK LW ´
Planning and design work began DURXQG ZKLOH FRQVWUXFWLRQ VWDUWHG LQ -XO\ 7KH SURMHFW LQYROYHG H[SDQGing the wastewater lagoon system near Rouleau, building a new potable reverse osmosis water line between Rouleau and Wilcox, building a new pumphouse for potable reverse osmosis water in Wilcox and a new water treatment plant in RouOHDX
Through the federal Investing in CanDGD ,QIUDVWUXFWXUH 3URJUDP ,&,3 2WWDZD FRQWULEXWHG WKH SURYLQFH NLFNHG LQ DQG ERWK WRZQV FRQWULEXWHG
7UDYLV .HLVLJ 0/$ IRU /DVW 0RXQtain-Touchwood, brought greetings from DUHD 0/$ /\OH 6WHZDUW +H WKHQ FRPmended the towns for bringing the project
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“Today, we’re here to mark the best milestone of any infrastructure project: WKH ¿QLVK 7RGD\ LV WKH JUDQG RSHQLQJ DQG LW¶V GH¿QLWHO\ FDXVH IRU FHOHEUDWLRQ ´ KH VDLG ³7KLV QHZ UHJLRQDO ZDWHU V\VWHP project now exists because people worked WRJHWKHU WR PDNH LW KDSSHQ ´
The provincial government is pleased to have supported this project, which shows its dedication to infrastructure inYHVWPHQWV .HLVLJ DGGHG 6LQFH WKH SURYLQFH KDV VXSSRUWHG PRUH WKDQ ,&,3 SURMHFWV
Lin Watt, manager of water with engineering team Tetra Tech of Canada, said her company thought this project was the ³SHUIHFW ¿W´ WR SXUVXH WKUHH \HDUV DJR DIWHU LW FRPSOHWHG VLPLODU SURMHFWV LQ 0DQLWRED She joked that she was excited to come to 'RJ 5LYHU ² WKH ¿FWLRQDO WRZQ IURP WKH
TV show “Corner Gas” — even if just to YLVLW
³%XW WKUHH \HDUV ODWHU DQG PDQ\ many site trips later, I think everyone here can be really proud of what we’ve accomSOLVKHG « ´ VKH FRQWLQXHG ³7KURXJK sheer grit and determination and a whole lot of work … I think we are in a really JRRG SODFH WRGD\ ´
:DWW DOVR WKDQNHG $ODQ +DQVHQ 5RXleau town councillor, for keeping the team IRFXVHG DORQJ WKH ZD\ 2WKHU VSHDNHUV DOVR FRPPHQGHG +DQVHQ¶V HIIRUWV ZLWK one speaker saying he was “instrumental LQ NHHSLQJ WKLQJV IURP ERJJLQJ GRZQ ´
%RWK WRZQV FDQ QRZ RIIHU JRRG FOHDQ water, while businesses can offer tap water LQVWHDG RI ERWWOHG + 2 VDLG &ODUNH 0RVW residents drank from bottled water over the years — tap water was safe but was FORXG\ DQG WDVWHG SRRU
Clarke has not heard any complaints for residents about the new water but knows some people removed their water softeners while others shut down their reYHUVH RVPRVLV GHYLFHV
)URP WR WKH HDUO\ V 5RXleau used a large brick building to supply LWV HOHFWULFDO DQG ZDWHU QHHGV ,W SKDVHG out that venue — it stands beside the new SODQW ² DQG XVHG DQ IRRW ZDWHU WRZHU IRU WKH SDVW \HDUV 0HDQZKLOH :LOFR[ pulled its water from a well beside the WRZHU
%RWK WRZQV KDYH ZRUNHG WRJHWKHU VLQFH RQ ZDWHU SURGXFWLRQ EHFDXVH there is an underground aquifer in RouOHDX
³%DVLFDOO\ ZH¶YH JRW WLPHV WKH storage capacity now because underneath the plant — and the one in Wilcox as well ²WKHUH DUH KXJH VWRUDJH WDQNV WKHUH IRU ¿JKWLQJ ¿UHV RU HPHUJHQFLHV ´ &ODUNH DGGHG ³,W¶V D UHOLHI WR NQRZ WKDW \RX¶UH JRQQD KDYH DOO NLQGV RI ZDWHU