Yellowknife (Jan 03/07) - The NWT Department of Transportation plans to build a multi-million dollar water and sewage system to the Yellowknife airport and its tenants.

"The broad objective is to respond to the growing demands of the airport," said Bob Kelly, manager of public affairs and communications for the Department of Transportation.

Kelly said the sewer fits into the broader development plans to continue to expand the passenger terminal building. With the growing number of tenants at the airport, a sewage and water system is needed for the businesses that operate on the airport grounds.

"It would position us for more development down the road," said airport manager Steve Loutitt.

Loutitt said the Yellowknife airport is one of the fastest growing in the country, yet is the only airport of its size without a sewage system. In passenger service, Yellowknife's airport is the country's 17th busiest, and is in the top 10 for shipping cargo.

He couldn't say how much the upgrades would cost, but said it certainly would be in the millions.

The airport expects 400,000 passengers to pass through the terminal next year.

Loutitt said that by adding the number of visitors and staff, "the number just swells," to near one million.

He said a water and sewage system will not only facilitate maintenance, but is also vital to fire safety. A limited number of fire hydrants leads to high insurance rates and safety risks where those hydrants are sparse.

With the current system at the airport, tenants truck in water daily, and the passenger terminal trucks out at least one truck load of sewage every day.

Kelly said the water and sewage system should be in place by 2008.