A major component of Altona's wastewater expansion project is almost finished.

Over the past few weeks, crews have been installing a force main line that runs directly from the Bunge Canada plant to the lagoon facility.

"All of the pipes are in the ground now and it's just a matter of connecting everything and then tying into Bunge's plant and then everything should be good to go," said Altona CAO Dan Gagne.

The force main is a dedicated line that will be used to keep the effluent generated by the Bunge facility separate from the rest of the town's waste stream.

"That will alleviate pressure on the lift station that pumps most of the community's wastewater to the lagoon," said Gagne.

The force main component of the lagoon expansion represents the last phase of the three-phase project.

The estimated cost for phase 3 will be close to $5.5 million and the overall price tag for all three phases of the project will come in at about $11 million. Much of that cost has been offset by provincial and federal government funding.

Force main line leading east of Altona to the lagoon