Ottawa, Queen’s Park cut cheques for wastewater upgrades
Posted May 26, 2017 05:54:13 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The city of Kitchener is able to tackle more of its infrastructure gap this year.
It’s thanks to federal and provincial funding announced this morning at Kitchener City Hall that’ll see Ottawa and Queen’s Park foot up to 75 per cent of the bill for a number of water improvement projects across Waterloo region.
Kitchener will see $2.3 million in federal funding for wastewater upgrades on Alice Avenue and Karn Street, and Hugo Crescent and Lorne Avenue. The province will provide another $1.1 million for these projects, while the city will pay the remainder.
“Every year we do an evaluation of the infrastructure throughout the city. The projects that were identified are over and above what we would have been able to do in a year like this,” says Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “Thanks to the contribution from the provincial and federal government, we’re able to do 1.4 additional kilometers this year.”
Meanwhile, Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky says his city is getting over $600,000 from both levels of government for the installation of a water leak detection system.
“What we want to do with this pilot is get it going as soon as possible. Having this automated technology on our fire hydrants really saves on staff time and saves fresh water,” he says. “Today, about 10 per cent of our water that we purchase from the region gets wasted in different forms — whether it be through leaks or flushing pipes.”
Two projects in Cambridge, four in Wilmot, and one in Woolwich are also on the receiving end of government funding for wastewater upgrades.
“The upgrades will help our community maintain its infrastructure levels,” says Kitchener MP Raj Saini. “It’s also very important that we create an environment where we have a community which is healthy, which is environmentally friendly, but also is investing in those important things that will keep our community progressive.”
