Work has begun to flow on the new upgrade for the Town of Leaders drinking water.

Specifically, the upgrade is on the Town's clarifier. Labour is being focused to clean out the existing setup, making room for the newer parts before everything can go back to regular service.

Erin Romanuik, CAO for the Town of Leader, reckons the cleaning phase of the project will take about a week to complete.

"Then the actual installing of the honeycombs and that part of the filter [could take] anywhere from one week to two weeks," said Romanuik.

While the work is taking place, the residents of Leader are under a drinking water advisory. This means they will want to boil water before use for consumption.

The total cost of this upgrade will be $110,000, for the total cost of cleaning and upgrade. The hope is that the water quality in the town will be improved by this work.

The recent issues of the low water in the South Saskatchewan River not reaching up to the water supply pumps will not be directly addressed during this work.

"We're actively looking at options to solve that problem," said Romanuik. "Financially it's going to cost a lot to put in different pumps or change anything in that way. So we're just going to continue to explore it."

Romanuik reassures that they now have resources to ensure the pumps can reach the water during low water events, saying it will reach the wells. A long-term solution is being looked at for development by the Town.