Last year, 75 projects across the province received provincial and federal funding to complete water and wastewater infrastructure work.

The community of Assiniboia was one of them, receiving a total of over $1.6 million for their system.

Mayor of Assiniboia, Bob Himbeault, talked about one of the upgrades to their standby power supply.

"Previously when we'd lose power we were able to pump water and keep water going throughout the town but we weren't able to make water. Certainly, a long period of time of a power outage would affect our water. It will certainly be solved with this new standby power plant."

And that's only part of the upgrades announced.

"We're doing a whole new chemical treatment side of the plant and all new pumps, along with a brand new standby generator that will give us power throughout the whole operation during a power outage which is something we didn't have before. Hopefully, it will all soon be done."

The town of Assiniboia had to release a statement earlier this month regarding their water treatment plant's upgrades, warning residents that their water may have a stronger than normal chlorine taste and smell, that it's completely harmless, and that there may also be a drop in water pressure as work continues.

"Our water treatment plant is undergoing a major upgrade and it's progressing well," says Himbeault, "Unfortunately we've had a few hiccups where we've lost some pressure due to some pump transfers, but hopefully we get those resolved and can start doing some commissioning here in mid-to-late February.

Some other work happening at the plant includes a new ultra-violet treatment and installing a new chemical feed process.