The Town of High Prairie provides treated water to users located within the Town proper and urban and rural users in the Municipal District of Big Lakes. The surrounding area users include six rural water co-ops and the Hamlet of Enilda. The Town also provides rural and industrial users not supplied by a distribution system by way of a truckfill facility.

The existing water treatment system in the Town was reaching its design life expectancy and an action plan was required to address the long-term water supply requirements for the Town and the surrounding service area. The existing water treatment plant was at its production capacity limit of just under 30 litres/second. Further increase in water consumption would necessitate an immediate capacity upgrade. With aging and obsolete existing plant equipment, replacement parts were also starting to become difficult to obtain. Modernizing the system to state-of-the-art technology with improved energy efficiencies and capacities needed consideration.

The options presented included an expansion to the existing treatment plant and the construction of a new plant. The cost for a new plant was slightly more than one million dollars more than expansion and retrofit to the existing plant. After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, Town Council decided to proceed with the new plant scenario.

The new water treatment plant was designed to provide capacity to meet maximum day water demands, with sufficient flexibility to produce water at increased rates in the future as the system demand warrants. The water treatment plant is sized to produce water up to the 20 year maximum day demand, plus plant losses (due to backwashing, filter rinse to waste, water required for flushing of the sludge blow-off lines and other in-plant water requirements).

A solids contact, up flow clarifier provides coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation. Liquid alum and polyelectrolyte are used as the primary coagulants. Filtration is a dual media sand-anthracite gravity filter. Additional chemicals used include pH adjustment using liquid sodium hydroxide, addition of fluoride using hydrofluorosilicic acid, chlorination with chlorine gas, and ultraviolet disinfection. All processes are designed to meet or exceed the Alberta Environment Standards and Guidelines for Municipal Waterworks, Wastewater and Storm Drainage Systems.