WATER NEWS - 11/27

Vancouver Wastewater Upgrades

Metro Vancouver has picked a joint venture of Aecom and Jacobs to provide preliminary engineering services for the $7.05bn (C$9.9bn) upgrade of Vancouver’s Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Built in 1963, it treats 200 billion litres of wastewater a year for around 750,000 people in the city. That accounts for some 40% of wastewater treated in the Vancouver Sewerage Area.

Owing to population growth, Metro Vancouver expects the number of people served to grow to 950,000 by 2051.

Set to last until 2035, the upgrade is intended to improve the plant’s capacity and resilience in line with public health statutory requirements. It will boost tertiary treatment to detoxify discharges into the Salish Sea. Extensive ground improvements will protect the plant from earthquakes and rising sea levels. Iona Beach Regional Park’s sensitive ecosystems will be restored to enhance visitors’ connection to nature.

The project will also improve the plant’s ability to recover water for non-potable uses and biogas.

Changes to the Water Act in Alberta

The Alberta Irrigation Districts Association (AIDA ) has provided a list of sector-endorsed suggestions to improve water management in Alberta.

The association is suggesting that the existing transfer provisions of the Act remain in place as the most effective way to reallocate water in basis closed to new licences, eliminate conservation holdbacks on licence transfers and modify the requirement in the Irrigation Districts Act to allow irrigation districts to hold plebiscites for licence transfers and to improvement wastewater treatment to allow more water to remain in storage for other uses.

Irrigation districts across the province are urging the public to attend either a virtual or live meeting to voice their concerns.

Tap Water by-product identified after 40 years.

Finally identified by an international team of scientists, Chloronitramide anion had eluded scientists since the time of its discovery, which dates back nearly 40 years now. This compound is a degradation product of chloramine which is a disinfectant that has been used in many water treatment plants throughout the United States to treat drinking water.

Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia and is sometimes used as a substitute where chlorine might generate toxic products. Although chloramines were introduced with the idea that they could pose fewer hazardous effects, this discovery complicates that picture.

The compound is considered safe for use in Canada. Health Canada says that the health risks from disinfection by-products are much less than the risks from consuming water that hasn't been disinfected. 

Comox Dam to decrease water releases

Starting tonight, the Comox Dam will be seeing increases and decreases in water release.

According to BC Hydro, staff will lower water release from the Comox Dam from 65 cubic meters per second to below 40 cubic meters per second starting this evening.

The change comes as this month has seen inflows into the reservoir be about 20 percent above normal, with the reservoir currently at 133.6 meters, a normal number for this time of year.

Water Rates Increase in Cochrane, BC

Cochrane, BC Town council has given first reading to bylaws that will increase water and sewage rates by $86.16 in 2025 for the average Cochrane household.

Households using up to 13.5 cubic metres of water will pay $2.76 more each month for water, increasing to $34.21 from $31.45.

Wastewater rates will jump $4.42 per month, climbing to $57.41 per month from $52.99, again based on 13,5 cubic metres usage.

While several cost-related factors led to the increase, there's been particular attention paid to building up town reserves for future capital projects. 

Calgary to Reintroduce Water Fluoridation

The City of Calgary is currently commissioning its upgraded water treatment equipment with plans to reintroduce fluoride into the water supply on track for early 2025.

Calgary's work comes as some cities, including Montreal, recently voted to remove fluoride from their water system.

Calgarians voted in favour of fluoridation in a plebiscite during the municipal election in 2021. A University of Alberta study shows that for children under five years old, the rate of dental treatments under anesthesia doubled from 22 per 100,000 in 2010-11 to 45 per 100,000 in 2018-19, after the removal of fluoridation