Area residents kept more items out of the landfill last year, but the Flin Flon Recycling Centre was hoping for an even better showing.
The centre collected 413.7 tonnes of material in 2014, up four per cent from 2013, according to newly released figures.
“We did have an increase in the amount we recycled, so it was quite a successful year overall,” said Deb Odegaard, administrator of the centre.
But with a recycling trailer now parked at the Flintoba Shopping Centre and free curbside pick-ups available in Creighton, Odegaard was hoping to approach the centre’s all-time record of 500 tonnes, set in 2007.
Council’s first estimate, released in 2008, came in at $6.24 million. In 2009, a revised estimate nearly doubled the tab to $13.2 million.
In 2011, still more overruns put the revised price tag at $15.2 million – and that was after council saved $1 million by scaling back the project.
Huntley said there has been no discussion around an opening ceremony for the plant, which has been operational since August 2013.
Kolt said opening ceremonies are typically scheduled around the availability of federal cabinet ministers. Ottawa was a funding partner in the project.
In addition to purifying drinking water, the plant overtakes functions once performed by the city’s now-defunct No. 2 Heating Plant and allows for increased water storage.
Situated near the Aqua Centre by Ross Creek, the plant is officially known as The City of Flin Flon Water Treatment Plant.
Feeder lines from Cliff Lake, the source of Flin Flon’s drinking water, enter the building.
Early in its journey, the water is injected with a coagulant that clumps together all of the dirt and organics that the incoming water brings with it.
The water makes its way through a pair of towering plastic tanks before proceeding to a series of 108 pipe-shaped filter units. Inside each unit is a bundle of tiny, spaghetti-like tubes.
Forcing the water through those tubes dislodges the clumped-together waste. This muck is then excreted into a concrete basin below.
