A costly water filtration system could be postponed by 10 to 20 years, Kelowna city council will hear Monday. Efforts to protect watersheds and the ongoing delivery of quality drinking water will be cited by city staff as they apply to Interior Health for a deferral of a pending requirement to develop the filtration systems. In current dollars, the filtration system carries an estimated price tag of almost $130 million - which would make it, by far, the single most expensive municipal project ever undertaken in Kelowna. "Interior Health has re-emphasized the expectation of drinking water filtration," reads part of a report to council by senior city staffer Mark Watt. "However, IH can allow a utility to defer nstallation of water filtration infrastructure if the utility meets several conditions," Watt says. Those conditions include protecting source water, continuing to deliver high-quality water, and having a plan to eventually build a filtration system. If the deferral application is successful, the city‘s plan is to introduce an extra fee on top of normal water rates to raise money for the eventual construction of a filtration system. Currently, the city treats its water through an ultra-violet technique that provides an "effective barrier in inactivating known pathogens," Watt‘s report to council states. Interior Health‘s move to eventually require water filtration systems has encountered some objections from people who operate domestic water systems around the province. They say the requirement is unnecessary, given low health risks associated with the current delivery systems, and far too costly for them to undertake on their own. Kelowna officials hope that two-thirds of the city‘s water filtration system would be covered by the provincial and federal governments. The city‘s largest project to date was a $60 million expansion of the sewage treatment plant. Along with the municipally-run system, water purveyors in the Central Okanagan include the Black Mountain Irrigation District, Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District, and Rutland Waterworks. Representatives of the various organizations meet occasionally to discuss how best to improve the efficiency of the overall system by, for example, creating operational links between the separate water lines. The non-municipal systems, however, are generally proud of their independence and track record, and resist any suggestion of being taken over by the City of Kelowna.
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Items from Upcoming City Of Kelowna's meeting May 30
Item 7.1 - Filtration Deferral and Drinking Water Source Protection, Application for Deferral.pdf (2357kb) (2011-05-26) Item 7.2 - 2011 Water Rates.pdf (3009kb) (2011-05-26)
1 comment:
Why cant we do that here?
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