WC148 MayJune 2026 - Magazine - Page 18
TOP 50 PROJECT
and 170/03 offer a more stringent, reliable standard for safety
and potability. “Essentially, the reasoning behind our putting
the boil-water advisory in place was due to the fact that the old
water treatment plant did not meet the standards of the time,”
Wilhelm says. “Ontario’s standards are among the strictest water
legislation in the world.”
Nawash public works teamed up with the Ontario First
Nations Technical Services Corporation (OFNTFC) to conduct
feasibility studies to choose an appropriate course of action,
and project planning began in earnest in January 2020. Nawash
retained Associated Engineering to complete detailed design for a
new treatment plant, an underground reservoir, a new 300-metre
intake into Georgian Bay, an upgrade to existing watermains, a
14.5-kilometre watermain expansion, a new access road, and robust hydro, internet and telephone connections to the new plant
site. The project team then secured a $61-million capital funding
commitment from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), with the
band budgeting an additional $700,000.
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WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2026
Three months into planning, however, the project team
faced its first major challenge when the First Nation closed to
visitors to help keep COVID at bay. With outside site access
no longer feasible, the project team turned to online videoconferencing and cloud-based 3D collaboration software. “Associated Engineering was able to generate some pretty accurate
walk-throughs so that they were able to present to the capital
works manager, the water treatment manager, and our chief
and council,” Wilhelm says.
As the pandemic eased and restrictions gradually ended, the
project team carried out detailed design and chose a site on
band-owned land five kilometres downstream from the legacy
plant so that both plants could function independently from
one another during construction. In the spring of 2022, crews
cleared forest growth to make room for the new plant, adjacent low-lift pumps, and high-density polyethylene pipe going
down a steep incline to draw from new intakes in Georgian
Bay. “They essentially drilled a giant tunnel from the top of the
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
Devin Wilhelm
The new Enji Biinaagamig Water Treatment Plant features two sets of
昀椀lters—one mixed-media 昀椀lter with anthracite and sand, and a second
carbon 昀椀lter designed to tackle taste and odour issues. Inset: The new
water treatment plant at the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation
went live in October 2024.
