The City of West Kelowna has spent $915,000 for 24 acres of land for its new water treatment plant.
The Rose Valley Treatment Plant will now be built on Bartley Road - on private land the city was forced to buy after it couldn't secure a grant for Crown land at the end of Rosewood Drive.
With the location of the new plant now determined, the city can complete the design of the plant with construction to follow as quickly as possible.
With support from the Province, the city is in the process of requesting from the federal government a timeline extension to the $41-million grant - it received for the new plant under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund - as the delay in securing the location has impacted the city’s ability to meet the current deadline of March 2020.
West Kelowna is also in the process of securing more funding for the facility as the additional cost to purchase the land - and new construction and maintenance requirements resulting from the new location - will affect the budget for the project. A final project cost will be determined once design is complete.
Once details for the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant are finalized, the City will host a public forum to inform residents about the project and more including water conservation, water rates and water system maintenance
Once up and running - the plant will serve 12,000 people in the Lakeview water system - and eventually another 6,000 in the West Kelowna, Pritchard and Sunnyside water systems.
The treatment plant won't be ready for another couple years.