The Town of Lake Cowichan’s efforts to update their wastewater treatment plant are now going along more smoothly.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the $350,000 requested through a gas tax grant application through the CVRD and the Union of BC Municipalities has been accepted.
The total project cost of phase one is estimated at $1,649,000.
The town is awaiting the results of another gas tax grant application of the remaining $1.3 million of this first phase.
The fist phase is the most critical, and will consist of the construction of a third lagoon cell, expanding the town’s capacity to hold sewage.
This will help prevent overflows during the summer, as well as allow sewage more time in the cells for treatment before being discharged into the Cowichan River.
Constructed in 1975, the town’s waste water treatment plant currently includes two cells, which is not adequate for the town’s current needs.
As such, a sewer parcel tax of $50 per serviced lot was implemented last year, though this brings in nowhere near enough money to cover the full cost.
The total project cost of the entire upgrade is estimated at $5.35 million.
The town has spent $184,500 over the past three years to prepare the site to make it shovel-ready, which it currently is.