The City of Winnipeg is recommending council approve a $115 million contract to a Canadian construction company for the final phase of the North End water treatment plant. The money will be used to build a facility to remove nutrients from treated water before it returns to the Lake Winnipeg watershed. A motion before council’s executive policy committee notes the nutrient removal project will upgrade existing facilities at the plant to “address regulatory requirements for nutrient removal and replace end-of-life infrastructure.” According to the administrative report, the upgrade is “urgently needed to increase treatment capacity and allow the City to continue growing.” The motion proposes council award a $115 million contract to Kiewit Construction Services ULC, one of three companies who bid on the project. The motion also recommends council waive the condition on securing funding from the provincial and federal government to award the contract. The nutrient removal facility is one of three capital projects needed to upgrade the treatment plant. The power supply and headworks facility went online in late August, and work is underway on the biosolids facility. The entire project is expected to be finished in 2032. Upgrades to the plant are anticipated to cost over $3 billion, with the third phase costing around $1.57 billion. The executive policy committee will discuss the matter at its Sept. 15 meeting.
