The Region of Waterloo is continuing to make advancements in addressing its ongoing water capacity shortage, now hitting a major milestone regarding a short-term fix, while still pushing towards new long-term solutions.
In an update shared by Regional Chair Karen Redman, she stated that the region has made the final connections for its new Laminar water treatment container, the first of four expected to be installed at the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant.
“Work is now being put in place to make sure it’s in service, and that is nearly complete. It’s exciting to see this project become a reality,” Redman stated.
“Once operational, it’s expected to add about 20 litres per second of new water capacity to the Mannheim Service Area this year, with more water capacity on the way as the whole project rolls out.”
She stated that, with the first container almost fully in place, the concrete is officially being laid for three more containers, expected to arrive later in September.
On top of the announcement from Redman, regional councillors have begun turning their eyes to permanent solutions in the years ahead, now hearing of an option that could further cut costs and take years off previously expected timelines.
Regional staff provided a report during a recent special council meeting, recommending a change from its previous plan to install a CAM 2W Pumping Station and, instead, transferring land to the Middleton Service Area.
That service area currently provides approximately 150,000 residents with drinking water across a large portion of Cambridge and North Dumfries.
In its report, staff said the change in approach “can be completed faster, is less expensive, and would be a permanent investment compared to the CAM 2W Pumping Station, which would take longer, cost more, and could only be used until the capacity was required to support development in the Middleton Service Area.”
It stated that the change could save as much as $8.1 million and expedite the current 2031 timeline by as much as three years.
“This would introduce an additional 20 litres per second of capacity to the Mannheim Service Area and would reduce the overall demand on the service area by 25 litres per second,” the region’s report said.
“This approach is preferred to the construction of the CAM 2W Pumping Station and will meet the demands for the Mannheim Service Area.”
In an update for residents across Wilmot Township, the region also said that, due to the faster-than-expected timeline that’s been seen in ongoing water capacity advancement efforts, it will only need to draw an additional 15 litres per second from the Wilmot Centre wellfield until the new year.
“Therefore, in January 2027, it will be available to support future growth in Baden and New Hamburg,” the report stated.
Due to the expected demands of the incoming water capacity infrastructure in the years ahead, regional staff also presented details of required employment needs, stating that the region will need as many as 10 additional positions on its payroll in order to accommodate.
The final vote on which direction the region will head in is expected to be made during budget discussions in the coming weeks.
As of now, there is just one remaining special council meeting focused on the region’s water capacity restraints, currently scheduled for next month, but further meetings could still be added following the upcoming municipal election.
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