The City of Estevan hosted a ceremony near Rafferty Dam this morning at 10 a.m. to celebrate the upcoming completion of the third and final phase of the community’s drinking water system upgrade project.

The first phase began in 2017 with construction finishing that same year on two settling ponds that store the residuals generated by the water treatment plant to help protect the Souris River. 

Phases two and three were completed in tandem, which included a 9.2 km long water pipeline, which runs from the original riverbed in the Rafferty Dam Reservoir to the Estevan Water Treatment Plant.

The third and final phase of the project was the intake line from the Dam and the construction of a pump house, which will soon be operational.

MLA Lori Carr said that this project was very important for the Estevan community.

"It's infrastructure will contribute to protecting the environment and improving the drinking quality of water for Estevan residents."

Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig said they are excited to see a project of this size come to fruition.

“This project has been several years in the making and we are happy to be able to announce that residents will have cleaner water with fewer trihalomethanes which are potential cancer-causing agents. We couldn't have done it without council. We had a few bumps in the road but everyone came to the table and did a great job.”

Video of the ceremony down below.