Quality
 
Water treatment options

Introduction

Treating water to remove colour and turbidity is an expensive proposition. Compounding the problem for SEKID is that somewhere between 80 to 85% of the annual water use of the district is agricultural. The same water distribution system provides water for both domestic and irrigation use and to twin the system so that only domestic water would be treated is prohibitively expensive.

The 1990s

In 1992 the district commissioned a study to look at water treatment and supply options for the district. The estimate at that time for a slow sand filtration unit at the district intake would cost in the neighborhood of $42 million. This treatment system would remove only turbidity and not colour. In 1992 there were about 1,300 residential units in the district and it was decided that such a large expenditure for only a marginal improvement in water quality was not feasible.

Hall Road Area Improvements

In the spring of 2000 a two and a half year public consultation with the residents of the Hall Road area concluded with the retrofit of a district owned well and the supply of well water to that area. What made this project a success was the availability of groundwater, the service area was residential properties only (no agricultural demand) and the willingness of a majority of area residents to pay a special charge.  About 167 homes in the area are now provided with well water. A report on this project is available for downloading under “News and Reports” entitled Public Participation at SEKID: The Concerned Citizens of the Hall Road Area.

The Seven/12 Concept

A valuable lesson was learned from the experience in the Hall Road area: while it is not feasible to provide all the residents of the district with treated water all the time, it could be feasible to provide some residents with treated water all the time and, possibly, the remaining rural residents with treated water for the seven month period when Agricultural Irrigation is not in use. An internal report was done for the Board of Trustees entitled Preliminary Report on Enhanced Water Treatment Options for the McCulloch Road Corridor in the spring of 2002 (see “News and Reports”). 

This report looks at locating a small water treatment plant at the south end of Field Road. It was prepared for the Board of Trustees as a summary of the technical and public consultation challenges of undertaking enhanced water treatment. The board reviewed the information presented in this report and have subsequently commissioned the district’s consulting engineers to do a thorough review of all options available to the district to improve water quality. This Water Quality Improvement Plan is being done with the assistance of faculty at the OUC water quality program.

Water Quality Improvement Plans

In the winter of 2003 the Board of Trustees hired Mould Engineering to conduct a pilot study of various water treatment methods to once again look for the most cost-effective way to treat the district's surface water supply. This information was critical in the development of the district's Water Quality Improvement Plan, which was drafted in late 2003 and subsequently updated in May of 2006.  The Water Quality Improvement Plan reviews the latest advances in water treatment technology for our surface water, as well as looks at the options for using other water sources such as groundwater for domestic use.

A key objective of the Water Quality Improvement Plan is to determine an affordable way to improve the district’s water quality.  The report identifies water treatment methods that work and provides cost estimates to build them.

There are a number of pros and cons for each of the options developed during the compilation of  this study. In the winter of 2007 the Board decided a thorough review of these options was needed to assess the merits of each and to assist the Board and staff in identifying the best way to go. Associated Engineering was hired to do this option review and a comprehensive report was delivered to the Board in late November. A summary of the report can be found following this link: Water Supply and Treatment: Summary Report and the full text is available on this site under News & Reports/Internal Reports.