The Comox Valley Water Pollution Control Centre opened in 1984 and is one of the regional district’s most critical pieces of infrastructure. It provides wastewater treatment for residents of Courtenay and Comox and for wastewater collected from (septic) systems in the surrounding areas. To keep the centre working well, minimize its impacts on the neighbourhood and prepare it for the growth to come, upgrades are underway.
Do you live near the treatment plant?
Visit our notification page to register for text and/or voicemail notifications about planned maintenance that could result in noise or odour impacts, as well as unplanned operational issues that are longer than 1 day in duration.
Odour Complaints
Do you have a complaint about odours or noise at the Comox Valley Wastewater Pollution Control Centre? To have your complaint logged as part of our tracking system please click the button below to fill out our online form.
Odour Control Upgrades
Significant upgrades to odour control measures at the Comox Valley’s sewage treatment plant are nearing completion.
The $6-million upgrades approved in January 2020 include the covering of bioreactors and treatment of the additional odorous air through a new, larger wet chemical scrubber. Construction started in early 2021 and was complete in summer 2021. Odour dispersion modelling shows these measures will bring odours down to a minimally detectable level for residents living near the treatment plant.
New Equalization Basin
Construction on this important piece of protective infrastructure is now complete. The basin will ensure that treatment and discharge systems work properly during the highest inflows of any given year. During the few days a year when inflows are at their highest (winter storms coinciding with high tides), it will hold excess wastewater so that all inflow is treated properly before being discharged into the ocean. At the request of the Curtis Road Residents Association those neighbours who have signed up for alerts will be notified when the basin is in use.
For more information about this important piece of infrastructure read our FAQ.
History of Odour Complaints
A legal settlement in the 1990s led to the implementation of $7 million in improvements at the sewage treatment plant, including covering of odorous tanks, a new wet chemical scrubber and the removal of biosolids to the landfill. However, some odours continued to persist and in 2013 the Sewage Commission directed staff to undertake further study work and recommend additional mitigation measures. In 2018, $2 million was invested to cover the primary clarifier and install an activated carbon polisher at the plant. Following continued complaints from the neighbours, additional modelling and analysis was completed in 2019 which resulted in the decision to invest an additional $7 million into odour upgrades, including the covering of bioreactors and a larger wet chemical scrubber.
Questions?
If you have a question about the Comox Valley Water Pollution Control Centre please contact us by email or phone our engineering services department at 250-334-6000.