Project Management Award of Excellence
Capital Regional District Wastewater Treatment Project
W
hen British Columbia’s Capital Regional District (CRD) embarked on an ambitious effort to plan, construct and commission a new 108-ML/d tertiary treatment facility to serve Greater Victoria, one of Canada’s fastest-growing communities, it engaged Stantec to provide technical and owner’s engineer services. In preparing to deliver nine major capital projects under the program, the largest in CRD’s history, Stantec served as the owner’s engineer for the procurement, construction management and commissioning of the new facilities. Its team completed the project definition report for the new wastewater treatment plant and undertook an extensive value engineering and economic review of options to reduce the project’s capital cost. Stantec’s design resulted in cost savings of $425 million over previously developed concepts. The options evaluation process included triple bottom line evaluations, financial evaluations, extensive consultation with stakeholders and numerous workshops with CRD staff and politicians. 60
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Achieving goals CRD had three key goals for the wastewater treatment program: • To comply with federal regulations for secondary treatment by December 31, 2020, to protect the marine environment. • To minimize capital and lifecycle costs to CRD residents and businesses and enhance local communities with an efficient system. • To optimize resource recovery from the water treatment process and minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The project protects the sensitive marine environment adjacent to Victoria, which is home to orca, salmon, sea lions and other diverse life. As for the second goal, the facilities were delivered for $775 million,
“Notable for innovation, delivery and resource recovery— and the hybrid delivery model delivered the best value, saving $425 million!” - Jury
in line with the estimated budget prepared by Stantec and, as mentioned, $425 million lower than earlier concepts prepared by others. And regarding the third goal, the project produces a high-quality effluent suitable for reuse, including irrigation; heat recovery from effluent at the plant can enable district heating; and the aforementioned biosolids are used as cement kiln fuel. From high-rate treatment processes that take little space, to pumping and lifting residuals up 150 m to the Hartland biosolids facility, to drilling a major forcemain sewer horizontally under Victoria harbour, the project team devised innovative solutions to reduce program costs. CRD’s wastewater rates are amongst the lowest in Canada. This project contributes to a more sustainable process and improves the quality of life for more than 300,000 residents, leaving a legacy that will serve Greater Victoria for the next 100 years.
Capital Regional District Wastewater Treatment Project, Victoria, B.C. Award-winning firm (project manager/owner’s engineer): Stantec, Surrey, B.C. (Reno Fiorante, P.Eng.; Bob Dawson, P.Eng.; Rob Simm, P.Eng.; Stan Spencer, P.Eng.; Andrew Buchner, P.Eng.; Jon Bell, P. Eng.; Al Ghanam, P.Eng.; Jeff Ball, P. Eng.; Sean Lockhart, P.Eng.; Uthaya Uthayakumar, P.Eng.; Enrico Dimzon; David Harding, AIBC; Margaret Huggan). Owner: Capital Regional District. Other key players: n/a.
PHOTO COU RT E SY STA N T EC
Stantec
September/October 2021
2021-10-18 10:14 AM
