New $11.2M reservoir will boost city's drinking water quality

Federal government chips in with $7.7 million

Tamara Cunningham
Daily News

Thursday, January 12, 2012

A $11.2-million concrete reservoir, slated for construction next year, will help boost the quality of drinking water in Nanaimo.

City staff members announced the new project Wednesday, following a $7.7 million funding commitment by Ottawa. The new reservoir will be a part of the South Water Treatment Plant when it opens in four years, storing treated water before it's pumped to homes between Chase River and Departure Bay.

It will replace the city's last open-air reservoir on Nanaimo Lakes Road, which would have exposed treated water to possible contamination, and will help generate hydro-electric power, said Bill Sims, the city's manager of water resources.

The original facility is 100 years old.

"This is all about long-term security and preservation of the quality of our drinking water," Sims said, adding the old reservoir no longer works with the new system.

Water from the original reservoir was treated with chlorine as it pumped out to 30% of city on the lower-side of Wakesiah Avenue. With the new treatment plant, the system changes. Water will be treated before it's stored in the reservoir, and to protect the integrity of it, Sims says, the holding area must be enclosed. The process is expected to improve the protection of Nanaimo's drinking water.

The federal government showed support for the long-term project with $7.7 million from Canada's Gas Tax Fund.

The remaining $3.5 million will come from city reserves. Although the project is still in design stages, it will "ensure cleaner water for Nanaimo residents for years to come" and provide local jobs, said Nanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney.

The new system will also include a turbine to generate enough electricity to power up to 70 homes. Construction of a pipeline begins this year. Work on the 14-million-litre holding tank starts in January 2013.


© The Daily News (Nanaimo) 2012