Photo: Contributed - RDCO

L-R: Peachland Mayor Keith Fielding, Westbank First Nation Councillor Christopher Derickson, RDCO Vice-Chair James Baker, Okanagan Coquihalla MP Dan Albas, Westside Kelowna MLA the Honourable Ben Stewart, West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater cut the ribbon to celebrate the completion of the $13.3-million expansion of the RDCO Westside Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Residents in three Central Okanagan communities are benefiting from the latest expansion of the Regional Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The recently completed Stage 3 upgrade of the Regional District facility provides capacity for the internationally recognized biological treatment of approximately 16,800 cubic metres of waste water every day from community sewer systems within the District of West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation reserves #9 and #10 and the District of Peachland.

This $13.3-million expansion project was funded with $4.9-million in funding from the Canada-British Columbia Building Canada Fund - Communities Component.  The remaining funds for the expansion came from reserve contributions collected by the three local government stakeholders.

"Providing modern, reliable infrastructure for Canada's communities promotes jobs, growth and long-term prosperity in two ways," said Dan Albas, Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla, on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification. "Our Government's investment here is helping to boost the local economy during its construction while it provides the dependable infrastructure that residents can rely on, now and in the future."

"The BC Government is pleased to support this proven state of the art wastewater treatment facility on Lake Okanagan," said Ben Stewart, Member of Legislative Assembly for Westside - Kelowna. "The Okanagan Basin Water Board supports expansion of community sewer and treatment facilities along the Valley basin to ensure long term high quality drinking water. This project meets the communities' goal of high environmental standards and allows for additional capacity to bring on expanded neighbourhood growth."

Regional District of Central Okanagan Board Chair Robert Hobson says, "The expansion of the Regional Westside Wastewater Treatment facility includes the construction of a new Primary Treatment Headworks building; the addition of two new Secondary Treatment Bioreactors and two new Secondary Clarifiers and various Tertiary Treatment upgrades.  Additional works were completed to improve air quality from the plant.  These improvements to the plant will provide the capacity to service a future population of up to 42,000 within the three participating communities."