Water Treatment System Upgrades

Water Treatment Plant

The project team has recently completed the 16-month design process for Ucluelet’s new Water Treatment Plant, which will be built at the existing Lost Shoe Creek aquifer well site. The new facility will remove iron and manganese from the water supply, addressing Ucluelet’s long-standing brown water issues. Construction will take place through the winter, with the plant expected to be operational by fall 2026.

To watch the Water Treatment Plant project design video, click here.

Background

Drinking water for the District of Ucluelet (DOU) is sourced from the Lost Shoe Creek Aquifer and pumped from three wells to the existing water treatment plant.  Although the water is safe to drink, the raw water is high in iron, manganese, and turbidity and the additional of chlorine to provide necessary disinfection also causes the iron and manganese to precipitate out and settle in our water distribution system.  This leads to discoloured (red/brown) water.

The Challenge

Ucluelet’s existing treatment processes and water quality do not meet current regulatory requirements as defined by the Guideline for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.  Ucluelet’s post-treatment water is consistently testing higher in Manganese, Iron, and turbidity than the regulatory levels require.  To address this challenge a new treatment process is required.

The Solution

Over the past several years the District has been working towards the implementation of a new water treatment system for our community.  After the evaluation of various treatment options and testing of the proposed solution, a system was chosen that combines filtration, chlorine disinfection and ultraviolet (UV) inactivation to remove the iron, manganese, and turbidity from our source water.  This solution also helps to provide capacity to serve the Districts 30-year growth projections.

The DoU also worked to secure grant funding for this new treatment system and was successful in obtaining approximately $7.04 Million through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).

Over the next year, a new prefabricated building will be constructed at the site of the existing WTP and all the treatment system equipment and supporting infrastructure will be installed.

Recent Project Updates

• Detailed design of the new water treatment plant (WTP) was completed in September 2025, and a tender was posted for construction of the plant.
• In September 2025 the construction contract was awarded to Ridgeline Mechanical Ltd.
• As of November 2025, bulk excavation has commenced at the existing WTP site.

Schedule

Construction of the new treatment system is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026.  Some commissioning and treatment implementation activities may progress into early 2027.

Budget

In addition to the obtaining the ICIP grant funding, the District completed an alternative approval process for Loan Authorization Bylaw 1304, 2022, allowing for long-term borrowing of up to $13,000,000.

The current estimate project costs fall well within the total project budget, and are allocated as follows: