A multimillion-dollar joint investment will allow the Town of Berwick to continue critical upgrades to its aging wastewater system and meet growing demand, while also mitigating a strong odour that sometimes emits from the area’s treatment plant, the mayor says.

Last month, the federal and provincial governments announced they would spend $2.8 million and $2.3 million respectively to help Berwick complete the third phase of its four-phase project. Berwick will cover the remaining $1.8 million.

“Municipalities cannot do these kinds of projects without funding from other sources of government,” Mayor Mike Trinacty said in an interview.

“We don’t have the ability to borrow it. We don’t have the size to pay for it — tax rates would be through the roof.”

The work involves improvements to the pre-screening system and the installation of a new filtration system for the plant’s three lagoons. The upgrades will reportedly more than double the plant’s capacity from 1,800 to 4,000 cubic metres per day.

Trinacty said the increase will help serve a new subdivision in the community, hundreds of additional personnel and infrastructure upgrades at the nearby CFB Greenwood airbase and Eden Valley Poultry, a local livestock producer and major employer in the area.

“This is a growing community and there’s lots of people going to come here and we have to be able to accommodate the people that are coming now and in the future,” he said.

‘Did my kid just take a poop?’

The upgrades will also help the town meet environmental standards, Trinacty said, and address a strong odour that is sometimes discharged from the treatment plant’s lagoons.

“Every time I drive by I get confused, like, ‘Did my kid just take a poop?’” said Sarah Baltzer, who grew up in Berwick.

The smell is especially noticeable when it’s warm outside, which leads to residents often raising concerns to town staff, Trinacty said.

He said work has already been done during previous phases of the project to help mitigate the odour.

The third phase will continue that work, said Aaron Dondale, the town’s director of Public Works.

He said the equipment that pumps air into the lagoons, called blowers, will be replaced, which will help reduce any smell.

“By keeping the ponds’ oxygen rich, [and] having a good aerated environment, we can minimize that odour,” he said.

Dondale said the new blowers will also make the treatment plant operate more efficiently.

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