District of Port Edward - Water Treatment Plant (2003-2004)

With a population of about 770 people, the District of Port Edward is a small community located on the mainland, approximately 15 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.

The water treatment plant was designed by Dayton & Knight Ltd. to address the issues of corrosiveness, acidity, impurities, bacteriological contamination and high colour in the Wolf Creek water. Construction was completed in May 2004 and the plant is currently in service. The plant has a design capacity of 2,600 m3/day with allowance for future expansion. The plant includes primary flocculation; a DAF (dissolved air flotation) system to remove colour and other impurities; primary disinfection using UV and secondary disinfection using sodium hypochlorite. The project also included the construction of a 1.38 ML bolted steel reservoir and improvements to the existing water distribution system. In addition to monitoring the plant’s performance end reporting alarm conditions, the SCADA system also allows remote monitoring.

The use of UV for disinfection is making a positive contribution to the environmental aspect of sustainability and is expected to increase resource efficiency in a cost-effective manner and reduce life-cycle environmental impacts by reducing chemical usage.