Water upgrades near completion at Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant

Residents in Regina and Moose Jaw will soon have better tasting water.

Renovations at the Buffalo Water Treatment Plant are almost complete.

“Part of the plant renewal project was to replace aging infrastructure, add resiliency, be more energy efficient. We want taste and odour control year round,” said Ryan Johnson, the President and CEO of the plant.

"We were changing how our gasses work and compared to a biological process. So during the construction commissioning stages, that's where we are at right now is, they changed how they work. We're just right now commissioning the gasses to be biological,” he added.

The not so pleasant taste and odour usually happens once a year during the summer months. It also happens during peak season of blue-green algae.

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The Buffalo Water Treatment Plant renovations are nearing completion. (Angela Stewart / CTV News)"Blue-green algae is a bacteria that forms on the weather conditions. That hot, warm, dry weather. If you ingest it, you get nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, upset stomach, those types of things. So it's best to just avoid those areas,” said Patrick Boyle, the spokesperson for the Water Security Agency

Saskatchewan is the hotspot for the bacteria. It’s most often found in the southern part of the province, typically in shallow bodies of water.

"Usually on the shoreline it happens, where its blue green algae, that kind of look, discoloured. Sometimes grey, sometimes tan, sort of a thicker soupy looking,” Boyle explained.

It doesn’t, however, have an effect on the water that we drink.

"What's really important is the water is safe, it's just an aesthetic issue. It doesn't smell nice and it does have a slight taste to it,” said Johnson.

Residents in both Regina and Moose Jaw can expect their water to improve in the next couple of weeks.

Upgrades at the plant are about 60 per cent completed. Officials hope to have the site fully up and running by the end of 2025.