Emo will be getting more than $1.4 million from the province to upgrade its wastewater treatment equipment, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford announced on Jan. 22.
The investment is part of $700 million in provincial funding announced last week to assist 127 municipalities and First Nations communities in upgrading and expanding critical water infrastructure.
“Emo, the centre of this beautiful Rainy River District, received $1.4 million for the construction of a new sanitary holding tank with duplex pump systems,” Rickford said. “There’ll be upgrades to electrical, mechanical and other systems. People in emo can expect clean, safe water in some of the most modernized control systems and upgrades to the actual machinery and equipment that takes their water and makes it safe.”
Emo Mayor Harold McQuaker thanked the Ontario government for its support, noting that upgrades of this calibre aren’t necessarily possible in small towns without additional funding.
“Small municipalities have limited tax bases and resources to draw from for infrastructure upgrades, and therefore require support from all levels of government,” McQuaker said. “Through these crucial funding opportunities, small municipalities can ensure that infrastructure remains in good condition to continue to support the community while allowing for future growth.”
Kyle Gibbs, an operator-in-charge from the Ontario Clean Water Agency who works at the Emo treatment plant, said the upgrades are necessary to reconnect the plant and the sewer mains and the installation of a storage tank.
“Backwashing takes an incredible amount of water, so these storage tanks will hold the water, and the pumps from those tanks will pump it uphill to the sewage collection system,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs also noted that some funding will be going towards the collection system outside of the plant. “Whatever is directed towards the lift stations will go towards repairing or replacing some of the old, outdated infrastructure located in our sewage collection system.”
Rickford earlier visited Mitaanjigamiing First Nation, where he also revealed $4.2 million in funding for critical water upgrades to that community’s water treatment plant. Funds for both projects are sourced from the province’s Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, which was increased to a total of $4 billion last year.
