$5.1 million for Kenora’s Wastewater Treatment Plant

The City of Kenora is getting a helping hand from the province for repairs at the wastewater treatment plant.

$5,103,947 has been promised through the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program’s Health and Safety Water Stream.

It’s a $700 million dollar program, with 10 projects approved in the Kenora-Rainy River Riding.

Greg Breen is the Director of Engineering and Infrastructure and says this is part of a $10 million project.

“Most of the equipment is original, 35 to 50 years old in that plant and it is at or beyond the end of its regular service life,” said Breen following the announcement with Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford.

“To prevent failures in the future, we are looking comprehensively at what needs to be done at the plant as a whole.”

Breen says that money will cover about half of the first phase of the project.

“The $10 million are for the things we’re seeing as the most critical. We have some equipment that really has aged and deteriorated and it’s just time. And so, we’ll tackle those first and then strategically, we’ll go after the pieces that age and get older.”

In September of 2024, the Wastewater Treatment plant suffered a power outage resulting in sewage flooding into the Winnipeg River.

The city is in the process of repairing and replacing a number of pieces of equipment that were damaged in the flooding.