City temporarily shutting off ultraviolet (UV) treatment at North End Wastewater Treatment Plant

Released: September 24, 2025 at 10:46 a.m.
Residents should be careful when using the Red River in the affected area

Winnipeg, MB – On October 1, 2025, the City of Winnipeg will temporarily shut off the UV treatment at the North End Wastewater Treatment Plant (also known as the North End Water Pollution Control Centre or NEWPCC).

This is a temporary measure to allow us to keep working on important upgrades to the plant.

We will still treat wastewater as usual – just without the UV treatment, which uses UV lights to neutralize bacteria and viruses.

This means that the treated wastewater we release into the Red River will have more bacteria and viruses than normal. Higher levels of bacteria and viruses can be harmful to people and pets, but not to fish.

We will contact residents who live within three kilometers downstream (north) of the NEWPCC discharge directly.

Residents who live near or use the river for recreation should:

  • Avoid direct contact with river water when possible
  • Wash hands with soap after any direct contact with river water
  • Use safe food handling practices when consuming fish obtained from the river
  • Keep your pets from contacting or drinking river water

We expect to resume UV treatment in March 2026.

This work will not affect residents’ drinking water.

You can find more information about this and all the NEWPCC upgrade projects online: winnipeg.ca/NEWPCCupgrade.

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