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Water treatment program
Treatment plant background

The new water treatment plant has been built at the Deacon Reservoir site. We examined several possible sites for the plant:

• Shoal Lake
• upstream of Deacon, and
• downstream of Deacon, near MacLean Reservoir.

The Deacon site is best because:

• the original plan for the aqueduct included a future plant at Deacon
• the infrastructure is in place
• 

  Aerial view of Deacon Reservoir           

  it is the most economical and reliable location for the plant

Funding

• A Water Treatment Reserve Fund was set up in 1993 to save money for the water treatment program.
• The Reserve, funded through water rates from 1993 to 2007, contributed $133 million towards the total program.
• The remaining portion is financed through long-term debt.

Timeline

December 9, 2009	The plant begins sending treated water to the city.
Late 2009	Water treatment plant construction finishes.
May 2006	Ultraviolet light (UV) disinfection begins operating.
Spring 2005	Building the water treatment plant starts.
March 2005	Preliminary design and environmental effects study is finished.	Artist's concept of main entrance
Dec. 2004	Installation of ultraviolet light disinfection system is finished.
Pre-Dec. 2004	A number of water treatment technologies are tested and the combination that works best for Winnipeg's water is found. An initial design for the water treatment plant is prepared and experts are hired to prepare the final design and oversee the building of the plant.
November 2000	City Council approves a water treatment program to: protect against waterborne parasites, meet evolving Canadian Drinking Water Quality guidelines, reduce disinfection by-products, and improve the taste, odour and appearance of the water.
Background water treatment plant reports
	Winnipeg's water - Our most essential resource (pdf - 654kb) (pdf - 613kb) Should Winnipeg build a water treatment plant (pdf - 340kb) (pdf - 47kb) Assessing the need to treat Winnipeg's water supply (pdf - 600kb) Water treatment for the City's water supply (pdf - 312kb) Water treatment for the City's water supply (pdf - 335kb)  - Phase III Drinking water quality enhancement program (pdf - 439kb)  - Executive summary and summary report Drinking water quality enhancement program (pdf - 2.95MB)  - Phase III conceptual design report (June 2002) A small investment today for an affordable, healthy tomorrow (pdf - 22kb)
	Artist's concept of water treatment plant            as seen from Trans-Canada Highway

Due to security and safety concerns, tours of this facility are not available.