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SEPTEMBER 2005


 Drinking Water Filtration Project

Greater Vancouver’s drinking water comes from reservoirs in three watersheds – Seymour, Capilano
and Coquitlam located in the North Shore Mountains. From there it is conveyed by regional water
mains to member municipalities for distribution to homes, businesses and industry.

The Seymour-Capilano Water Filtration Plant will treat water from both the Capilano and Seymour
sources. The plant is being constructed in the LSCR (Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve). In order
to treat water from two sources at one plant, water will be conveyed




Why filtration?

The region’s medical health officers now require lower levels of turbidity (cloudiness) in the water than are currently
present. A filtration process will meet this requirement. Filtration will improve drinking water by removing turbidity and
microorganisms, and by reducing the amount of chlorine required to maintain water quality. More details are on the
back of this fact sheet.


Schedule of Activities

  • Construction of pumping station (Capilano)
     
  • between Capilano and Seymour through underground twin tunnels.
    •

  • Construction of filtration plant (Seymour) 2003 – 2007

  • Construction of twin tunnels 2004 – 2008

  • Construction of energy recovery facility and break head tank (Capilano) 2005 – 2008





Seymour-Capilano Drinking Water Filtration
Project expected to be completed at the end
of 2008

The Seymour-Capilano Filtration Plant will filter up to 1.8
billion litres of water per day, from both the Seymour and
Capilano sources. The filtration plant facilities at Seymour,
together with the adjacent clearwells (underground water
storage reservoirs), the overflow pond and two stormwater
ponds,  will encompass a space of approximately nine
hectares. When the project is completed, all construction
sites will be fully restored. For example, approximately 75
percent of the filtration plant site in the LSCR will be
replanted with native species.







Facilities related to the filtration plant will be
required at both sources. They include:


Capilano side

  • pumping station (16,000 horsepower) directly below Cleveland Dam will pump Capilano
    source water to the filtration plant

  • energy recovery facility and break head tank located directly north of the parking lot will
    reduce water pressure returning to
    Capilano from the filtration plant, and recover energy in the process

  • electrical substation, located west of Cleveland Dam, will power the pumping station

  • twin tunnels, each 7.2 kilometres long and 3.7 metres in diameter, will convey Capilano
    source water to and from the
    filtration plant in the LSCR.

Seymour side
  • filtration plant, located in the LSCR near the Rice Lake gate, off Lillooet Rd., will treat
    water from the Capilano and Seymour sources
  • clearwells for water storage, located adjacent to the plant, will store treated water for distribution
  • twin tunnel access shaft, located across Lillooet Rd. from the filtration plant, deep in
    the rock under Lynn Canyon Park, will convey Capilano water to and from the plant.






How will the water filtration plant work?
Sustainable practices

Water from the Seymour Reservoir will be piped via an existing 2.3metre-diameter
water main to the plant near Rice Lake, where it will be filtered and disinfected prior
to entering the distribution system. The reservoir is approximately 11 kilometres
north of the plant.

Water from the Capilano Reservoir will be pumped to the plant through a
7.2-kilometre-long, 3.7-metre diameter tunnel. An electrical substation has been
constructed on the west abutment of the Capilano Reservoir to power the pumping
station.

The water will be filtered, disinfected with ultraviolet (UV) light and chlorine, and
temporarily stored in the clearwells (see map on page 2). The treated water will
then return to Capilano, by gravity, through a parallel tunnel for distribution.

To learn more about the twin tunnels, please see the GVRD
Fact Sheet: Filtration Plant Twin Tunnels (2004).

An energy recovery facility and break head tank (located near the Capilano River
Regional Park public parking lot) will recover energy from the water in the gravity-fed
tunnel (Seymour is at a slightly higher elevation than Capilano) and reduce the
pressure of the water before it reaches the distribution system. The recovered energy
will produce electricity, which will be used by the GVRD or sold to B.C. Hydro.

When construction is complete, the sites will be replanted with native vegetation.




 



 

In accordance with the GVRD’s Sustainable Region Initiative, sustainable
building and environmental technologies and practices will be used in this project.

They include:

  • Protecting sensitive habitat – includes nesting surveys prior to construction to ensure minimal impact
     

  • Using EcoSmart™ concrete – utilizing industrial by-products such as fly ash to reduce materials
    going to landfill and to reduce greenhouse gases related to cement production
     

  • Managing stormwater by using best practices for reducing run-off
     
  • Using green roof technologies for the roof of the clearwells and roof of the filtration plant Operations
    and Maintenance Centre
     
  • Using ground source energy to heat and cool the entire facility
     
  • Taking advantage of natural processes such as daylight and a natural ventilation system
     
  • Recycling construction materials
     
  • Managing traffic – performing daily brake inspections on loaded trucks leaving the site, improving signage
    and intersection control, reusing and disposing of excavated material on site, and on-site batching of
    concrete to minimize traffic and air quality impacts on North Vancouver roads
     
  • Conserving energy and water
     
  • Re-vegetating the site with native plant species post-construction
     
  • Creating additional opportunities for recreation and education.

 


Project planning reports

The GVRD has conducted the following work at both sites: technical, environmental impact and wildlife habitat
assessments; vegetation, nesting and wildlife inventories; and tree, archaeological, community impact, traffic
and geotechnical (soil) studies. Copies of all reports can be viewed in the GVRD’s Harry Lash Library at 4330
Kingsway in Burnaby.

Funding

Partial funding for the filtration plant is being provided by the Canada-B.C. Infrastructure Grant Program. Partial
funding for the Capilano pumping station is being provided by the B.C. Local Government Grants Program. The
balance of funding is paid by the member municipalities through bulk water sales from the GVRD.

There is a series of fact sheets on other Seymour-Capilano Water Utility Projects. For copies,
please call 604-432-6200 or visit www.gvrd.bc.ca.

Changes in drinking water quality requirements

The region’s medical health officers require that turbidity standards be met. Turbidity is the level of suspended
matter (organic and silt particles) in drinking water. The filtration project is necessary to meet federal and provincial
water quality standards which include the medical health officers’ requirements.

The GVRD’s plan for treating the Seymour and Capilano water sources is to use filtration and UV light as the
alternative primary disinfectant to chlorine. Secondary disinfection with chlorine will continue to be used after the
filtration plant is completed, to safeguard our drinking water as it travels through the municipal distribution systems.