Metro Vancouver staff are entering the final stages of a massive water infrastructure project more than 10 years in the making.
Crews gathered at the Capilano Reservoir Wednesday to begin flushing and treating water that’s been sitting in more than seven kilometres of underground pipe connecting the reservoir with the Seymour-Capilano Filtration Plant at the top of Lillooet Road.
“During this time, water may be seen flowing into the Capilano Reservoir. This overflow water poses no risks to water quality or to the environment,” a release from Metro Vancouver stated.
The project required two massive tunnel boring machines, which drilled two 3.8-metre wide tunnels, more than 200 metres under Mount Fromme and Grouse Mountain.
Crews then installed two steel pipes connecting the pump station to the filtration plant. Total cost of the project was just over $800 million.
Metro Vancouver started the project in the early 2000s to bring the system in line with new federal drinking water standards. The cost of the project has been reflected in water utility rates over that time.
Once fully operational in May, water from the Capilano Reservoir will be pumped through the raw water tunnel to the filtration plant for treatment and then returned through the treated water tunnel to the Capilano distribution system.
That portion of the system serves most of the District of West Vancouver, District of North Vancouver, Vancouver, Richmond and Delta. The project also contains a water turbine to recapture some of the energy required to pump the water through the system.
