Dimsdale residents and businesses now have better access to clean water. The new Dimsdale Bulk Water Station is now in use.
A ceremony was held on-site Wednesday for shareholders and local government officials. Aquatera CEO Vaughn Bend says the construction of the facility came much earlier than initially expected.
“This facility was supposed to be built in the future, [but] based on feedback from our customers and shareholders, it was moved forward to start in 2019,” he says.
Also at the location is the booster station that has been providing water to Wembley since the spring of 2019. Bend adds he believes the facility is critical to expanding local infrastructure, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage more people to settle in the Peace Country.
“What we’re seeing is that water really drives development in the region and so the further out we can push our infrastructure, whether it be our pipelines or our fill stations, what it does is it drives development in the communities where they are present.”
The station is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is more room for trucks, and outlets are available for both residential and industrial customers. The station also features a heated concrete pad meant to increase accessibility and safety in the winter.
The County of Grande Prairie funded roughly $200,000 for the paving around the station, as well as $1.1 million for the transmission line oversizing and $450,000 for the construction of the booster station. The overall cost of the booster station came in at approximately $2.75 million upon its completion, with Aquatera picking up the rest of the tab.
Aquatera’s other bulk water stations in the region are in the west and north parts of Grande Prairie and in Sexsmith.