The City of Saskatoon engaged AECOM as their engineering consultant to provide design, construction administration and commissioning of the McOrmond Drive Reservoir and Pump Station. The new facility meets Saskatoon’s growing need for potable water with increased storage and pumping capacity. Designed to meet a wide range of water demands, we implemented a fully redundant pumping system, advanced process controls, and used computational fluid dynamics modeling to optimize reservoir design for maintaining water quality. It also has energy efficient systems and future solar power readiness. This project delivered a resilient and future-ready water infrastructure solution for Saskatoon.
Building for future demand
The City of Saskatoon’s vision for the McOrmond Drive Reservoir and Pump Station was to build a facility today that considers water demand 30 years into the future and beyond. This required our team to plan for water demands from 7 ML/d to 138 ML/d once that area of the City is fully built. Our team designed a fully automated facility that responds to changes in demand and adjusts pumping systems to meet the full range of demands while maintaining operational efficiency. Careful space planning means the equipment layout and building footprint are suited to future needs and additional equipment can be added with greater ease.
Enhancing resilience
In addition to meeting the demands of the surrounding neighbourhoods, the McOrmond Drive Reservoir and Pump Station can support two additional distribution system service zones if they are at reduced pumping capacity. These two service zones operate at different pressures, also known as hydraulic grade lines (HGL), which adds additional complexity.
Reliability and redundancy was achieved for all equipment and systems impacting the storage and delivery of water to the distribution systems.
Meeting client funding needs
We delivered the project under a tight timeline to meet Building Canada Fund deadlines. By accelerating the design and tendering process, construction started earlier in the season which improved construction efficiency. Our comprehensive commissioning provided a smooth transition to live operation with minimal issues.
Awards & Rankings
- ACEC Saskatchewan Award of Excellence – 2025
