Regina, Saskatchewan - November 25, 2011 - Thanks to funding from the federal and provincial governments through the Canada-Saskatchewan Western Economic Partnership Agreement (WEPA), Saskatchewan municipalities may soon have access to a more affordable and less disruptive method of replacing water service connections.
Palliser Member of Parliament Ray Boughen, on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, and the Honourable Laura Ross, Minister of Government Services on behalf of the Honourable Jeremy Harrison, Minister of Enterprise and Minister Responsible for Trade, today announced a shared investment of $140,000 for Communities of Tomorrow (CT) to design, build and pilot test a “cage and winch” water service connection replacement system to replace buried water lines (from the street to a water meter).
The CT project team includes public works and engineering staff members from Estevan, Humboldt, Melfort, North Battleford, Regina, Saskatoon, and Weyburn. City crews in North Battleford and Regina field tested the design.
“Our Government supports technology commercialization projects because we understand that this will provide new opportunities for jobs and economic growth,
” said MP Boughen. “This project has strong potential to reduce water service connection replacement costs for municipalities and improve Canada’s competitive position in the global economy.
”
“As our province’s population continues to increase, this new project has the potential to assist our growing communities in seeking an innovative and affordable solution to a greater municipal issue,
” said Minister Ross. “The resulting technology from this project will help keep down costs for many of our communities and their residents.
”
Communities of Tomorrow led a consultation process with 13 Saskatchewan urban municipalities to identify needs for innovative approaches to municipal infrastructure activities. The most urgent need was replacing water service connections to residential customers.
A design team brought together by CT suggested a cage and winch design to pull replacement pipe through existing pipes. This method may eliminate substantial disruptive trenching on streets, sidewalks and customer property, and reduce costs for municipalities. If the technology is successful, CT will look for western Canadian firms to manufacture the product and, potentially, to provide service connection replacement services for communities that can’t afford to buy the equipment.
“The system, once perfected, could save cities up to 40% of the current cost of service connection replacement, which could result in savings in excess of $20 million for Saskatchewan municipal taxpayers on existing service connections. The system also has the potential to be commercialized right here in Saskatchewan for the world market,
” commented John Lee, President of Communities of Tomorrow.
Communities of Tomorrow is a public-private partnership with the mission of making Saskatchewan a global leader in the field of innovative sustainable municipal infrastructure.
Both Canada and Saskatchewan are contributing $25 million each, over four years, to the Canada-Saskatchewan Western Economic Partnership Agreement to strengthen economic activity and improve quality of life in western Canadian communities.
For additional information, contact:
Joanne Mysak
Manager, Communications
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Tel: (306) 975-5942
E-mail: joanne.mysak@wd.gc.ca
Joanne Johnson
Director, Public Affairs
Enterprise Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 787-7967
Email: joanne.johnson@enterprisesask.ca
John Lee
President
Communities of Tomorrow
Regina, Saskatchewan
Tel: 522-6698
Email: jlee@communitiesoftomorrow.ca
WD Toll-Free Number:1-888-338-WEST (9378)
Teletypewriter (TTY): 1-877-303-3388
WD Website: www.wd-deo.gc.ca.
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End to End Service Connector Project
As a result of consultations with the managers of many of Saskatchewan’s cities, Communities of Tomorrow co-hosted a series of Insighting sessions with leaders and staff from eight Saskatchewan cities. These professionally facilitated brainstorming sessions produced a list of common challenges facing municipalities and a “wish list” for solutions.
Repairing and replacing municipal water service connections emerged as the top consensus issue among the cities engaged in the Insighting sessions. They were looking for a way to reduce the cost and time involved for this essential service, as well as allow for less disruption to the street, sidewalk and homeowner’s property.
The City of Regina had already pioneered a new approach, called the “Super Winch”, and they offered their system and expertise as a starting-place for a completely innovative approach.
Communities of Tomorrow responded to the challenge by creating the End-to-End Service Connection Design Project, an effort to tap the available knowledge and resources to generate an innovative solution. Through a number of working sessions, representatives of the Public Works and Engineering Departments of seven cities; assisted by researchers from the National Research Council, University of Regina, and Saskatchewan Research Council; educators from SIAST and the University of Regina; and business experts engaged in a focused effort towards finding a solution.
The result of this collaboration was recommendations for a new kind of excavation cage and associated pipe-winching device, and a call for a re-design of the traditional curb stop water shut-off valve used by most cities. Once put in place, it is estimated that these solutions will save cities approximately 40% of the current cost of service connection replacement, and significantly reduce the street and property excavations required.
“Even small savings on each job can add up to significant dollars when that job is multiplied thousands of times over. This is a clear demonstration that an innovative approach can make a dramatic difference and that we have the capacity to find innovation right here at home.
” – Dorian Wandzura, Deputy City Manager, City Operations, City of Regina.
“From a management point of view, anytime that there’s a possibility of saving dollars for the taxpayer, and there’s ways to accomplish that, we’re behind it one hundred percent.
”-John Wade, City Manager for the City of Melfort.
Communities of Tomorrow and the multi-municipality consortium are now working with the Saskatchewan Research Council to develop a high efficiency version of the service connection system that can be deployed throughout Saskatchewan municipalities. The cities of Regina and North Battleford have agreed to participate as living labs to demonstrate and test the new system.
For more information, contact:
City of Regina
Communications Branch
306-777-7499
John Wade, City Manager
City of Melfort
306-752-5911
