The Public Works Association of British Columbia (PWABC) has awarded the Small Community Project of the Year to West Kelowna’s Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant and Transmissions Main.
The project was recognized for its innovative design, unique features and complexity. Despite minor delays from wildfire damage to a reservoir and chlorinator, the $75-million plant opened in early 2023, and remains in the commissioning phase.
The PWABC award notes that West Kelowna successfully enhanced its water treatment capacity while adhering to high safety standards and preserving the environment of the 9.7-hectare city-owned property.
“This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and the collaborative efforts of everyone involved in the design, construction and commissioning of the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant,” announced West Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom.
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The community held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new WTP on May 31.
Delivering up to 70 million litres of drinking water per day, Milsom added that Rose Valley is the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history. With a service area of nearly 20,000 customers, the modern facility “not only meets current needs but also prepares us for the future,” he said.
Rose Valley uses coagulation, flocculation, dissolved air flotation, filtration, UV disinfection and chlorination to improve the taste, colour and smell of the water. The plant was designed so that the city can increase capacity up to 115 million litres per day.
Local officials noted that investments from the federal and provincial governments enabled West Kelowna to build the plant years earlier than originally planned.
Damage from the wildfire continues to present challenges, local officials said, noting that water quality would have been significantly worse without the plant during seasonal changeovers in the reservoir. Impacts to the watershed around Rose Valley Lake meant that local officials had until recently been treating source water with chlorine, which was also an avenue to treat elevated levels of manganese.
The 2024 award winners were announced during the PWABC/BC Municipal Safety Association Joint Annual Conference and Tradeshow, held in October.
For more information about the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant, visit westkelownacity.ca/rvwtp.
