The City of Brandon, Manitoba, has begun construction on its new $139-million membrane filtration building at the local water treatment facility, a project designed to treat the challenging Assiniboine River water and return the existing facility to a state of compliance.
Brandon City Council approved a bid last month from NAC Constructors Ltd. to undertake the advanced membrane technology project — the single largest construction contract ever awarded by the city — which also aims to improve the water treatment facility’s disinfection byproduct levels. The facility will move from a gaseous chlorine disinfection method to one that utilizes liquid sodium hypochlorite.
The new dual membrane system with ultra-filtration and nano-filtration will support the existing facility, which was built in the 1940s.
“The new membrane building will ensure safe, reliable drinking water for our community for generations to come,” announced Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett in a statement. “It’s a major step forward for Brandon. I’m proud and excited to see this project finally get underway after years of work, collaboration, and vision.”
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Construction of a chemical building is also planned to safely store and handle all chemicals used to treat the municipal water supply, eliminating the need for on-site chlorine gas storage. Local officials announced that the addition will provide capacity to explore lead-leaching reduction strategies to benefit older areas of Brandon where lead water service connections may still exist.
Future phases of the upgrade project includes the construction of a new river intake and upgrades to existing portions of the current treatment facility.
Planned upgrades will also allow Brandon water treatment facility to better manage corrosion control mitigation.
The upgrade project is expected to be completed in June 2029.
