Saskwater Contributes to Community Growth

News Release – April 9, 2008

SaskWater tabled its 2007 Annual Report today in the Saskatchewan Legislature, outlining another productive year as a commercial Crown.In 2007, SaskWater’s total water sales volumes increased to 4.2 billion gallons, which is up from 4.1 billion gallons in 2006. However, SaskWater has a net loss for 2007 of $500,000 compared to a net income of $400,000 in 2006. Even though SaskWater saw higher revenues in 2007, expenses increased at a more rapid rate, predominantly in the areas of repairs and maintenance.

“SaskWater continued to provide quality water and wastewater services to its customers helping ensure Saskatchewan is ready for growth now and into the future,” Crown Corporations Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said. “SaskWater continued to develop, but it did see slower growth in 2007 due to issues such as increased construction costs and the required time it takes for municipalities to do local consultation and establish support for their projects.”

SaskWater has consistently contributed to economic growth and quality of life in its customer communities, since being re-mandated as a commercial Crown in 2002. Sales in 2007 to industrial customers increased 2.9 per cent and sales to municipal customers were up 1.4 per cent. SaskWater provides competitively-priced, customer-focused, quality water and wastewater services to 53 urban and rural municipalities, 60 rural pipeline groups and 41 commercial customers, encompassing about 48,000 people across the province.

“We’ve made great strides in our financial stability as we continue to seek innovative, cost-effective ways to deliver quality water and wastewater services to Saskatchewan communities and industry,” SaskWater president Stuart Kramer said. “We’ve experienced significant financial improvements over these six years, increasing our revenues by 35 per cent over this period of time.”

In 2007, SaskWater invested $7.5 million on capital for new construction and expansion projects, remote monitoring, asset management and infrastructure management. Major projects included completion of the Fort Qu’Appelle Wastewater System and an expansion to accommodate an interim solution for new users in this area, construction of a new booster pump station on the Buffalo Pound Raw System to supply Terra Grain Fuels and increased demands to Saskferco, and construction of a pipeline to connect a new groundwater well for increased supply on the Regina East Raw System to serve the White City area.

The theme of the 2007 SaskWater Annual Report, Solutions, speaks to a number of qualities which define SaskWater’s business and summarizes the corporation’s activities and accomplishments of the past year.

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For more information, contact:

Karyn Mossing Murray
SaskWater
Moose Jaw
Phone: 306-694-3009
Email: karyn.murray@saskwater.com
Cell: 306-630-8167

Related Documents:
SaskWater 2007 AR BACKGROUNDER.pdf (18.2 KB)