Wastewater plant gets $2M

Photo: Oliver Daily News

More than $2 million has been given to the RDOS to install two "key" systems at the OK Falls wastewater treatment plant.

The Regional District Okanagan Similkameen has been awarded just under $2.3 million from the federal gas tax fund to help fund a pair of projects.

The most significant of the two grants was given for the Okanagan Falls wastewater treatment plant, just south of OK Falls, amounting to more than $2.06 million.

That money will pay to install a grit removal and sludge dewatering system at the plant, used for processing solids. The RDOS said those two systems are "key components" which were left out when the plant was built due to budget constraints.

Sludge at the plant has to be hauled to the Penticton wastewater plant to be treated. Once the new sludge dewatering system is built in OK Falls, the RDOS expects to cut back costs significantly on treatment, transporting and processing solids. 

The second grant received, worth $225,000, will be used to create an assets management plan — bringing better awareness to the region's assets which include water, sewer, parks, community centres and others.

The plan will help RDOS staff and board members "make decisions based on a robust understanding of the long-term costs of the various assets involved in service deliveries," staff said in a news release.

Regional district board chair Karla Kozakevich said the funding for the two projects "will allow the RDOS to continue to improve on the delivery of services for residents, and we sincerely appreciate this investment in our future."