It’s not surprising to see a proposal for Moose Jaw to link up with someone for development of geothermal energy to heat the new industrial park
The big surprise is why it took so long.
The underground hot water source has been known for more than a century when natural gas exploration discovered the geothermal water source.
The natural gas explorers were trying in 1910 to replicate natural gas pools that made Medicine Hat, Alberta a magnet for industry.
They did find some natural gas. During a city council tour of the water well, one councillor threw away a lit cigarette, setting off a fire from the vapour but it wasn’t enough to be commercially viable.
The geothermal well was harnessed for Moose Jaw when the Kinsmen Club, with a loan from the city, built the Natatorium. The Nat used hot water from the well and attracted tens of thousands of people year round to the pool for leisure and healing until 1957 when the well cribbing collapsed.
That same water feeds the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa which was subject of a recent video featuring Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie inviting everyone for a staycation at the spa.
Tolmie has come under criticism for inviting guests to Moose Jaw in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and creating the potential for a super spreader event.
When city council invited proposals for the spa over 30 years ago, local developer Sammy Klein presented one. His research showed that the underground geothermal water source stretches from the Lakehead at Thunder Bay to Banff, Alberta. Indeed, the town of Unity, Saskatchewan made plans to develop a spa there, east of Saskatoon, but never followed up.
So far Moose Jaw is the only community to take advantage of the geothermal layer of water across the Prairies.
The idea of a district heating system using this water was floated with discussions about heating the downtown as well as the spa pool from this source. That plan was scotched when it was pointed out the water is too corrosive for a heating system.
A few district homes have used geothermal heat including one near the new industrial park, but they aren’t tapping the deep source. Nor is the Grant Hall Hotel geothermal heating system using the deep water source.
The proposal to heat the industrial park area with geothermal water does raise some questions. The geologist making the proposal to council suggested obtaining geothermal water from the Galilee district some 35 miles south of Moose Jaw.
Would it not be more efficient and less expensive to tap the geothermal water under the industrial park and save the miles of piping, as well as not having to re-heat the water?
The proposal does put Moose Jaw on the map for use of an environmentally-friendly source of energy.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
