Comox Valley Water Treatment Project

About the Comox Valley Water Treatment Project

A new water treatment plant is under development for the Comox Valley water system. Once complete, Comox Valley residents will have the modern water treatment system they deserve and turbidity related boil water notices will be eliminated. In the interim, installation of temporary UV treatment  is expected to reduce boil water notices by about 80 per cent as we await construction of the new water treatment plant.

This short video provides an excellent overview of the project. 

Project Background

The Comox Valley Water System provides drinking water to 45,000 residents but doesn’t comply with current provincial guidelines.

Our water system relies solely on chlorination and does not effectively protect against parasites. In addition, elevated turbidity levels can interfere with the chlorination of the water and increase the risk of bacteria and viruses, triggering the need for boil water notices.

A new water system will bring the Comox Valley water system in line with other communities across BC, Canada and the developed world.

The new water system will deliver three main benefits:

1. It will eliminate the need for turbidity-related boil water notices.

2. It will remove the risk of viruses, parasites and bacteria in our drinking water.

3. It will provide a secure supply of reliable, high quality drinking water for decades to come.

Read more about why a new water treatment plant is needed.

Project Timelines

Construction of the new water treatment plant is scheduled to begin late in 2019 and will be fully operational by 2021. 

To provide interim relief to turbidity-related boil water notices, the CVRD has installed UV reactors in the existing treatment plant, adding a second level of water treatment and raising the allowable NTU. This is expected to reduce boil water notices by up to 80 per cent. The UV reactors will then be moved to the new facility when constructed.

Project Funding

The Comox Valley Water Treatment Project is estimated to cost $110.6 million. 

While the CVRD is seeking grants from the federal and provincial governments, there will still be costs for which the CVRD will be responsible. 

The Comox Valley Water System currently holds reserves of $26.3 million and the CVRD plans to borrow up to $29 million over a maximum of 25 years to finance its share of the construction costs for the new water treatment system.

The cost of borrowing this money will mean an increase in bulk water rates for users of the Comox Valley Water System. It is estimated the new system will cost roughly $86 household/year.

For more information about how we will fund our Water Treatment Project please see our cost breakdown.