A major water treatment plant opened Friday in the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. With a capacity of up to 160 million liters per day, the River Street Water Treatment Plant is the largest of its kind in North America.
"After more than ten years of work, the city of Kamloops is finally able to provide consistently high-quality drinking water to residents and visitors, 365 days per year," said Mayor Mel Rothenburger. "Healthy living is always at the forefront of our minds, and clean, safe drinking water is a basic right for all our citizens."
When the levels of turbidity became so high that there was an increased opportunity for a breech in water quality, the city of Kamloops turned to advanced membrane technology from ZENON Environmental to address the situation.
Through this, technology virtually all pathogens and other harmful microorganisms are removed from the water, producing high quality treated water.
The new facility will be more than simply a water treatment plant. In a significant partnership between ZENON Environmental, the city of Kamloops, and Thompson Rivers University, a Centre of Excellence will be created at the plant.
The Kamloops Centre for Water Quality will provide on-site training and education for plant operators from the Kamloops region, as well as for plant operators from around the world.
Thompson Rivers University currently is creating a water treatment technology program where students will have the opportunity to utilize the facility to gain practical experience with membrane technology. It also will provide the opportunity for ongoing research into the water conservation issue and improvements into water treatment technology.
"Water treatment technology is an emerging field. With this centre of excellence, students, plant operators and researchers from all over the world will be able to learn and benefit from Canadian expertise in this area," said Dr. Roger Barnsley, president of Thompson Rivers University.
Source: PR Newswire
