Prince Albert city council on 15 September directed administration to begin pricing a one-month residential water-fee rebate and awarded a $44,185 contamination-removal study at the city's Water Treatment Plant, even as geosmin-driven taste and odour problems show signs of easing, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported on 16 September 2026.
Key takeaways
- Geosmin levels and water-related service requests have both fallen, with flushing of Zone 1 about 35% complete, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
- Council unanimously approved a motion to report on the financial impact of a one-month residential water-fee rebate, with preliminary figures suggesting about $300,000 in foregone revenue, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
- Council also approved a $44,185 Water Treatment Plant contamination removal study, with KGS Group awarded the engineering work for $39,185.11 including taxes, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
- Acting Public Works director Tim Earing said the city was down to nine water-related service requests the prior week, most involving smell, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
- Administration expects the new study to begin immediately, with results anticipated within about six months, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
What happened
Council heard on Monday that geosmin levels in the distribution system have dropped and that water-related service requests have "really tapered off," with flushing of Zone 1 about 35% finished, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Acting Public Works director Tim Earing said the city continues to test the water and stressed that it remains safe, while Coun. Darren Solomon said he had noticed a "substantial improvement" after reviewing the city's latest information and "did notice that in my shower this morning as well that the water was not quite as musty," according to the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
The improvement follows a summer in which the city separated the problems into two events, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported: discolouration beginning in June, linked to elevated naturally occurring organic matter after heavy snowpack, spring runoff, significant rainfall and sharply elevated North Saskatchewan River flows; and taste and odour complaints that became more noticeable in August, linked to geosmin, a naturally occurring compound present in the source water.
The Water Treatment Plant has already adjusted its response, including optimizing powdered activated carbon dosing, increasing testing, and adjusting other treatment processes based on river conditions and laboratory results, while the city is comparing treatment approaches with the Water Security Agency and other regional water providers, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Some isolated discolouration complaints remain hard to explain: Mayor Bill Powalinsky raised cases where one home reported heavily discoloured water while neighbouring homes on the same line did not, and Earing said testing has not identified the same problem in the city's mains, according to the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
On the rebate question, Coun. Daniel Brown moved that administration prepare a report on the financial impact of rebating or waiving one month of residential water service fees, with preliminary figures suggesting a rebate could cost about $300,000, and businesses were not included in the proposal, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. The motion, passed unanimously after scope was expanded at Coun. Dawn Kilmer's request, will examine direct and administrative costs, revenue, operating and capital requirements, effects on reserves and debt, possible shortfalls, and potential impacts on future rates, taxes and the long-term financial sustainability of the utility, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Solomon said he was "cautiously supportive" and warned: "We only have one taxpayer. So if we give back now, and then we got to take back later in a different form, what are we really doing to our taxpayers?" Council has not approved a rebate; the Monday decision only directs administration to determine the financial impact before council decides whether to proceed, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
Separately, council approved a $44,185 Water Treatment Plant contamination removal study, including a $5,000 contingency, and awarded the engineering work to KGS Group for $39,185.11 including taxes, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. The study is not aimed at this summer's isolated discolouration, taste or odour complaints; instead it will assess the plant's ability to remove or inactivate a broader range of contaminants, including those that could enter the North Saskatchewan River during an upstream contamination event, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. The work follows lessons from the 2016 Husky oil spill, when the city was forced to shut down its river intake and incurred more than $10 million in direct emergency response costs, with the pipeline owner ultimately covering those costs, according to the Prince Albert Daily Herald. Administration expects the new study to begin immediately, with results anticipated within about six months.
Specification read
Prince Albert's Water Treatment Plant draws from a river source that, this year, carried both elevated natural organic matter after an unusually heavy runoff season and geosmin, a naturally occurring taste-and-odour compound, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. The plant's immediate response — optimizing powdered activated carbon dosing, increasing testing and adjusting other treatment processes based on river conditions and laboratory results — sits in the pre-oxidation and taste-and-odour control stage of a conventional surface-water treatment train (intake → coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation → filtration → disinfection), and is the typical intervention for seasonal geosmin episodes, with general industry dosing ranges for powdered activated carbon against geosmin typically falling in the 1–10 mg/L band (general industry range, not from the sources). The headline dollar number from this meeting is small in capex terms — a $44,185 study plus a $5,000 contingency, with engineering awarded to KGS Group at $39,185.11 including taxes, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported — and is scoped not to this summer's complaints but to a broader contaminant-removal review triggered by the 2016 Husky oil spill, in which the city recorded more than $10 million in direct emergency response costs, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. The rebate motion is a separate financial-impact exercise: preliminary figures suggest about $300,000 in foregone residential revenue, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
If your plant draws from a rain- or runoff-fed surface source, sees seasonal geosmin or earthy taste-and-odour complaints in the single-digit-per-month service-request range, and is under council or board pressure to document both the chemistry response and the ratepayer impact, this is the same decision shape Prince Albert is working through: a taste-and-odour control adjustment on the existing treatment train, paired with a parallel study of broader contaminant removal, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. For operators weighing biological treatment upgrades against seasonal source-water variability on river intakes, the engineering trade-offs are laid out in our MBR vs Conventional Activated Sludge for Mining Wastewater: 2026 Ellwood City Guide and in the agricultural-chemicals comparison MBR vs Conventional Activated Sludge for Agricultural Chemicals Wastewater in Yuba City (2026 Engineering Guide), and procurement leads sourcing equipment for municipal surface-water plants of this class can start from our Municipal hub.
FAQ
What did Prince Albert council actually approve on 15 September 2026?
Council unanimously approved a motion directing administration to report back on the financial impact of a one-month residential water-fee rebate, and separately approved a $44,185 Water Treatment Plant contamination removal study awarded to KGS Group for $39,185.11 including taxes, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Council has not yet approved an actual rebate.
How much could a one-month residential water rebate cost the utility?
Preliminary figures presented to council suggested about $300,000 in foregone residential revenue, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Businesses were not included in the proposal, and the financial-impact report will also cover administrative costs, reserves, debt, and rate and tax implications.
What is the contamination removal study intended to address?
The study is not aimed at this summer's taste, odour or discolouration complaints; it will assess the plant's ability to remove or inactivate a broader range of contaminants, including those that could enter the North Saskatchewan River during an upstream contamination event, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Administration expects the work to begin immediately, with results anticipated within about six months.
Is Prince Albert's water safe to drink right now?
Acting Public Works director Tim Earing said the city continues to test the water and stressed that it remains safe, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported. Geosmin levels and water-related service requests have fallen, with flushing of Zone 1 about 35% complete, but some isolated discolouration complaints in individual homes remain unresolved by main-line testing, the Prince Albert Daily Herald reported.
