Peachland's new water plant has a flaw that will cost $2.5M to fix

Photo: District of Peachland

The District of Peachland is faced with spending another $2.5 million to make changes to its new water treatment plant that just opened this year.

The water treatment plant started operations in April 2021 at a cost of just over $24 million, of which the municipality contributed roughly $17 million.

When council gets its first look at Peachland’s 2022 capital budget next week, they will learn of a design flaw in the new plant’s backwash system.

The system removes dirt and contaminants from filter beds by passing a mixture of water and air over them.

“This fluidizes the beds and allows the waste and carrying water to be stored within a tank for future treatment. When the plant was first designed, the intention was for the backwash water to be pumped back to the start of the process and slowly recycled. It was designed in this manner as per engineering best practices and also as a cost saving measure,” said a report to council.

But over the last year, it has been realized that the backwash recycle system requires an incredible amount of babysitting to avoid it from “crashing” due to the constantly fluctuating incoming water quality.

“In order to maintain water quality and prevent an advisory or boil water order, there were periods during this year where our staff spent more time at the plant than they did at home,” the report to council says.

District staff say the $2.5 million upgrades, a tentative figure, are critical if the municipality wants to avoid increased staff turnover and water quality issues. The funding would come from the district’s reserves.

Other items being proposed as a priority in next year’s budget include pedestrian safety improvements on Princeton Avenue ($400K), Thorne Road paving ($400K), retaining walls at Swim Bay ($120K) and pre-construction drawings for a new fire hall ($150K).

Council will discuss the budget during a committee meeting on Tuesday.