After enduring years of water main breaks and boil orders, Saint John is about to overhaul its aging water system, undertaking the biggest municipal infrastructure project in the city’s history.
Mayor Mel Norton unveiled a partnership Tuesday with a consortium of international and local companies to build a new water treatment system. Norton says residents now using bottled water will be able to return to the tap once it’s complete.
“They have to spend money to buy bottled water because the quality is so poor and those fundamental basics have got to change and we are going to change them with this project,” says Norton.
Canada’s oldest city has some of the country’s oldest water infrastructure, which has been known to fail in spectacular fashion, sometimes resulting in boil orders affecting tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
Water main breaks often occur in a cast-iron pipe that was installed in the ground 150 years ago. That pipe will be replaced under the project, which is expected to cost roughly $216 million.
“Yes, our two favourite pipes. The cast-iron pipes from 1854-1874, something like that, they will be decommissioned,” says water project manager Dean Price.
Those who rely on the pipes say the upgrade is long overdue.
“We inherited the problem from previous councils, previous administrations didn’t want to do anything about water treatment, so this is a step forward,” says pub owner Peter Ferguson.
The project includes building a new water treatment plant and installing 20 kilometres of new pipe. The project will employ about 250 people at the height of construction.
“We’d like to see local people operating that plant and we’d like to see that happening for the next 30 years,” says Andrew Evenden of Acciona Agua.
The project is expected to take almost three years to complete, with construction beginning this spring.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
