These intake pipes separate water and debris prior to the cleansing process at Parksville's new water treatment plant (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

key infrastructure

‘This is huge for us:’ officials excited for Parksville’s new water treatment plant

Jan 9, 2020 | 12:07 PM

PARKSVILLE — People living in Parksville and Nanoose Bay are now tapping into a more reliable and safer drinking water supply.

The $42 million Englishmen River Water Treatment Plant on Herring Gull Way in Parksville was officially unveiled at a news conference on Thursday, Jan 9.

An ecstatic Parksville Mayor Ed Mayne told a crowd of plant employees and dignitaries the state-of-the art infrastructure is critical for many reasons.

“We can grow the population of the city now without being concerned if we’re going to have a sufficient water supply, that’s a primary important one.”

The facility has a capacity to hold 16-million litres of water daily, which the City of Parksville stated comes from an intake structure on the Englishman River to the nearby plant where it’s then treated.

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The plant has been operating for the past month following a three-week trial period.

Mayne said the additional water capacity, coupled with cleaner, filtrated water, means more peace of mind for thousands of local residents.

Mayor Mayne referenced past water shortages due to storm related turbidity in the winter.

“Or in the summer time when it was really low levels of water then we would have to go to the wells and use that and often times the wells would run down fairly dry.”

Mayne said local taxpayers are well served by a paid off water treatment plant.

The project benefitting roughly 18,000 people in Parksville and on the Nanoose Bay peninsula received a little over $12 million in senior government grants.

Regional District of Nanaimo board chair Ian Thorpe stressed to the assembled crowd the importance of investing in drinking water infrastructure to serve a growing region.

“Without it (water) you’ve got nothing,” Thorpe said.

Formal planning for Parksville’s new water treatment plant began in 2013, while construction commenced in 2017.

The project was accelerated due to more stringent drinking water regulations imposed by Island Health in 2009.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes