SUNDRE — The municipality was presented with an environmental award during the recent Alberta Municipalities 2022 Convention & Trade Show in Calgary.
According to the Alberta Municipalities website, the convention returned to Stampede City on Sept. 21-23 following a five-year hiatus, and attracted close to 1,100 municipal leaders with more than 80 featured speakers.
Sundre was named a recipient of the Municipal Environmental Award for a town with a population between 2,500 to 10,000.
The award was based on information the town supplied to Alberta Municipalities pertaining to the new wastewater technology as well as the process administration followed in obtaining approvals and funding to proceed with this project, Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, told council during the regular Sept. 26 meeting.
The award is intended to recognize municipalities in the province that have demonstrated excellence in environmental practices in their municipal operations, administration, and governance, she said.
The administrator added the municipality is interested in serving as a role model for other communities currently facing either limits to growth or environmental issues on a broader scale.
“It is our desire to continue to show leadership in the treatment of wastewater and ongoing environmental stewardship in all areas of water protection and conservation,” she said, adding Sundre certainly is not alone among municipalities in Alberta that are in a similar situation regarding regulatory requirements to upgrade lagoon systems based on new approvals from Alberta Environment and Parks.
“Sundre has been approached by many of these municipalities, who are interested in the technology based on the lower capital and operating costs, and because of the high-quality effluent produced as a result of the new treatment technology,” she said.
“They are eagerly anticipating positive results and Alberta Environment’s approval of this exciting technology.”
Additionally, Nelson said the municipality is committed to sharing all available information with other districts that are considering plans to upgrade their own existing lagoon facilities, up to and including providing in-person, on-site tours throughout the testing period.
“Pending positive results of the technology, it is expected that many municipalities will choose this technology based on lower capital and operating costs, and more importantly, based on good environmental stewardship,” she said.
Both Nelson and Mayor Richard Warnock attended the convention’s awards dinner on Sept. 20.
Council unanimously carried a motion approving Nelson’s report for information.
The new roughly $11.5-million facility will not replace but rather enhance the existing lagoon system with a process that uses electrochemical induction to separate waste from water.
The process is said to not only treat water in less than one hour – a substantial reduction in time compared with the anaerobic method employed by traditional lagoons that can take roughly 200 days – but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions while meeting or exceeding environmental regulations of effluent released back into waterways like the Red Deer River.
A previously postponed groundbreaking ceremony for the structure that will be built to house the new technology, was held on the afternoon Friday, Sept. 30.
A similar, successful facility built in a small Saskatchewan town called Unity that was commissioned in 2017 remains the only one of its kind in that province.
