The Village of Forestburg celebrated the end of a very long road on Wednesday during the grand opening of their water treatment plant.

Done without a lot of fanfare, the event was nevertheless satisfying for members of Council.

Starting in 2008, the village sent in requests for funding to replace their aging plant, but four applications in a row were declined, even after councillers met with ministerial staff at an Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention.

Unlike the old plant, seen here above left, the new plant allows for conservation during operation. The two filters auto backwash, and also use an automatied pressurized air to clean, while all pumps have a spare that kicks in automatically if either the first pump goes down, or the demand increases dramatically, like if a fire hydrant is being used. The total cost of the project is just over $3 million.

“Persistence is key. Forestburg was not willing to take no for an answer and a concerted effort on the part of Council to solicit funding from the province was finally successful.

“It will have taken about eight years from the initial application for funding to completion of the project, but it was well worth waiting for,” CAO Debra Moffat says.