Comox Valley Water Treatment Project

New Water Treatment Facility Complete, Providing High Quality Drinking Water to Comox Valley Residents

Fresh, filtered and fully disinfected drinking water is now flowing to 50,000 residents in the Comox Valley – an achievement celebrated with an event on September 21, 2021 at the Comox Valley Regional District’s new Water Treatment Facility on Lake Trail Road. For more information read our press release.

Photo caption: Ronna Rae-Leonard (MLA Courtenay-Comox), Cole Diplock (Island Health), Mayor Bob Wells (Courtenay), Mayor Russ Arnott (Comox), Chief Nicole Rempel (K'ómoks First Nation), Chair Jesse Ketler (Comox Valley Regional District), Water Committee Chair Wendy Morin (Comox Valley Regional District).

About the Project

Construction of the Comox Valley Water Treatment Project is now complete. The new system, which began construction in fall 2019, now provides a safe, reliable source of drinking water that meets provincial surface water treatment objectives guidelines. The completion of this system means:

Elimination the need for turbidity-related boil water notices
Removal the risk of viruses and bacteria in our drinking water
A secure supply of reliable, high quality drinking water for decades to come

On November 28, 2018 the governments of Canada and British Columbia announced more than $62.8 in federal-provincial funding for this project which involves new intake infrastructure, pumping stations and pipelines, force mains and transmission mains, and a filtration facility with an educational space for the general public.

Learn More:

For photos of the construction process visit our Photo Gallery.

News Highlights

Partnering with K’ómoks First Nation

The K’ómoks First Nation (KFN) and the CVRD signed a Mutual Benefit Agreement on September 28, 2018 confirming cooperation and collaboration in the management of water resources in the region. In the signing of this agreement, KFN has stated its support of the Comox Valley Water Treatment Project and the CVRD’s water license application.

The CVRD celebrated the start of construction and officially broke ground with the KFN on October 30, 2019 at Comox Lake. From left to right: CVRD director Daniel Arbour, K’ómoks First Nation Councillors Katherine Frank and Richard Hardy, CVRD directors Wendy Morin and Doug Hillian, CVRD Water Committee Chair David Frisch, K’ómoks First Nation Chief Nicole Rempel, CVRD Chair Bob Wells and CVRD director Edwin Grieve.

Project Cost and Funding

The Comox Valley Water Treatment Project cost $126 million.

To help with the funding of the project, the CVRD received federal and provincial grant funding ($58.5 million) under the Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) – Environmental Quality (EQ.

The Comox Valley Water System contributed reserves of $38.5 million and the CVRD has borrowed $29 million over 25 years to finance its share of the construction costs.

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 per household/year.

Click here for more information about how we will fund our Water Treatment Project.

Project Timeline

The design-build contract was awarded to AECON Water Infrastructure Inc. in July 2019, and construction began in fall 2019. Commissioning of the new system started in June 2021, and was completed in August. The system was fully complete and operational in Sept. 2021.