Many of you have been asking, what exactly is a side stream? As we work to get more water to the communities where growth is happening, our team has come up with a creative solution that helps us treat more water, faster. See how it works.

Work continues to get the site ready for the side stream system, with the design of the supports for the mobile treatment units almost complete. Steel beams will support the concrete pad that the four units will sit on, as each weighs about 100,000 pounds. The units are part of a temporary system that will use advanced technology to filter solids from the river water. 

Laminar Water in Cambridge has built the first unit and it is ready to be delivered next month. The unit will be hooked up to the plant and pending its success, three more from H2O Innovation will be up and running by the summer of 2027. This enables us to treat more water ahead of permanent upgrades that will be completed in a few years. 

Through the first unit, up to 50 litres per second (L/s) of new water capacity could be added by the end of 2026. The three additional containers will bring the total new capacity up to 300 L/s. In total, this solution could provide nearly half the new capacity needed to support forecasted growth up to 2032. 

The Region is working with many partners to fast-track this solution. A project like this would typically take more than four years to complete but we’ll have design and engineering to construction and operation completed in 18 months or less.   

This project is one of many solutions moving forward at the same time to stabilize the water system in the Mannheim Service Area and support growth.  Visit the water capacity information hub to see the timeline of solutions.