It’s not the pool they wanted, but it’s the one they needed.

That’s what the mayor of Clearwater says about the District receiving $1.8 million to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant.

Merlin Blackwell says the feds have committed $988,000 for the project and the province is providing just under $825,000. The full cost is $2.47 million.

“We were right at capacity for receiving poo. We could’ve put maybe another 20 houses online but we’ve got a lot of construction in town so we were maxed out. We can’t even accept right now what may come out of the Trans Mountain product. We’re going to have to ship that down to Heffley Creek processing or somewhere in Kamloops,” Blackwell says.

The District meanwhile will have to spend $658,000, making up about 27 per cent of the entire project cost.

“We’re going to get some grants here from other sources, some funding from other sources, but odds are on this one specifically we’re going to have to borrow long term. But this is the kind of investment you make in a community for the long-term. We get really low rates for municipal financing. This is something we needed. It may not be the pretty future, but this is the future for sure.”

Blackwell says the upgrade will essentially double the expansion for wastewater for Clearwater; he estimated it will make the system sufficient for up to 20 years, but possibly less depending on the rate of growth in the community.