Victoria area has to make plans for sewage treatment

The region of Victoria, B.C., known as the Capital Regional District, has been ordered to provide a plan for treating sewage in the core area communities by June 2007.
Currently, the district releases untreated sewage into the ocean and relies on the ocean currents and dilution to deal with the waste. However, a recent analysis by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and B.C. Ministry of the Environment found that this natural method of sewage dilution was not capable of dealing with the amounts of waste that will be produced given the expected growth in population.
On July 21, B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner directed the capital district to amend its liquid waste management plans and provide a detailed schedule for providing sewage treatment by next June. The sewage systems have to provide for 250,000 people in seven communities in the core area of Victoria, including Saanich. The cost of the project could top $1 billion.
The district will be posting a request for qualifications at the end of August for consulting engineers to help with the preliminary studies.
Dwane Kalynchuk, head of environmental services with the district, says they already have two sites identified as possibilities in an existing plan, but want to explore other options as well.
They’ll also be considering what levels of treatment will be necessary, what number of plants are required, and exploring different approaches to sludge treatment and effluent disposal. They will obviously be looking at innovative technologies, especially those related to energy recovery, he says.