FCM’s Green Municipal Fund supports the Kitchener Wastewater Treatment Plant Centrate Management Update in Waterloo Region
October 14, 2011, Region of Waterloo, Ont. – Berry Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and councillor for the City of Kitchener, Ont., and Harold Albrecht, member of Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga, today announced a total of $2,200,000 in Green Municipal Fund (GMF) support for the Region of Waterloo. The regional municipality has received $200,000 in grant funding and $2,000,000 in low-interest loan funding from FCM to upgrade the Kitchener Wastewater Treatment Plant to improve the management of biosolids created during the wastewater treatment process, reduce the concentration of nutrients to the Grand River, and address performance and capacity concerns.
“FCM’s Green Municipal Fund offers a range of resources and services that specifically address the sustainable community development needs of municipal governments,” said Mr. Vrbanovic. “The financing and knowledge provided by the Fund supports the development of communities that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.”
“The Government of Canada is assisting municipalities across the country in achieving their goal of a cleaner and healthier environment for Canadians through the Green Municipal Fund,” said Mr. Albrecht. “Today’s announcement is another example of how our government — in partnership with FCM — is helping the Region of Waterloo build a greener future for our citizens.”
The Kitchener Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade will improve the process by which air is added to the water, and ammonia and organic nitrogen are processed into nitrate. Construction is being done in stages to reduce the impact to plant operations. Other upgrades involve the design and building of new facilities to process the biosolids created during the treatment process. The new facility will convert the biosolids into cake form rather than liquid form.
The upgrade will also reduce the amount of ammonia-nitrogen in the treatment plant effluent by about 75 per cent. Higher quality effluent will improve water quality in the Grand River; in turn protecting the health of communities that rely on the Grand River watershed, and supporting population growth by ensuring the watershed’s sustainability. The creation of cake-form biosolids will produce a lesser volume needing storage, and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation. The biosolid process will also decrease the risk of runoff from fields following the application of liquid biosolids.
“Protecting the quality of the Grand River as a source of drinking water is a priority for the Region of Waterloo”, said Ken Seiling, Regional Chair. “Our residents have expressed strong support for this goal in their input to our Regional strategic plan and wastewater treatment master plan. Upgrading the Kitchener Wastewater Treatment Plant will help us achieve this goal.”
The Government of Canada endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with $550 million to establish the Green Municipal Fund™. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection.
FCM has been the national voice of municipal governments since 1901. It fosters the development of sustainable communities to improve quality of life by promoting strong, effective, and accountable municipal government.
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For information:
Region of Waterloo
Nancy Kodousek,
Director, Water Services
Region of Waterloo
Tel.: 519-575-4447
E-mail: nkodousek@regionofwaterloo.ca
www.regionofwaterloo.ca
FCM’s Green Municipal Fund
Maurice Gingues
Media Relations Officer
Green Municipal Fund
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Tel.: 613-907-6399
Fax: 613-244-1515
E-mail: mgingues@fcm.ca
www.fcm.ca/gmf
Natural Resources Canada
Julie Di Mambro
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister
Tel.: 613-996-2007
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Tel.: 613-992-4447