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 stand-by-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 plants 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.