Filtering water will be costly

Editor: The Rose Valley Reservoir is the primary water source for Lakeview area farmers, businesses and homes.

Rose Valley was dammed in 1949 mostly for farm water, but farmers and some homes decided to use the water for domestic uses, thus the water was chlorinated to kill the bugs that may flow along (no filtering — raw water only).

Three or more mountain lakes up the Bear Creek way have also been dammed to supply a larger volume of water to Rose Valley reservoir due to higher demand (all Earth-filled dams). These reservoir lakes fill with snow and rain run-off water, thus will have brown-tea colouring due to tannic acids from vegetation. This colouring cannot be filtered. This water served the farms well, since it was mostly irrigation only.

Now there are many new homes and new businesses that also have demands on the same system. IHA has a higher standard for domestic uses which also includes turbidity and coloring.

The water supply from Bear Creek is dependent on natural rainfall and snowfall. Bear Creek water will always be surface water and will always have the turbidity and colouring.

It makes no economical sense to install a very expensive filtering and treatment plant at Rose Valley reservoir due to high maintenance and replacement of wear parts, such as filters.

Rose Valley sits at an elevation of 600 meters, so the treatment plant at site would need pumps and other equipment to produce filtered water. Rose Valley looks economical because of the water-head to produce pressure, but the dirty water does not make it cheaper to produce a polished domestic water.

Remember, farmers will accept the un-treated water for irrigation— no chlorination required, so why treat “all” the water just for some homes that demand IHA quality? Keep the irrigation for the farmers and use our fine Okanagan Lake water for the domestic. Running new pipes for IHA quality will be cheaper than installing a treatment plant for “all” the farm water.

This is the identical problem that SEKID and Kelowna City are thinking in East Kelowna. They do think that a new water line from Cedar Creek pumping station is cheaper than treating all the irrigation water for 10 per cent of the consumers (by volume).

If Kelowna could think outside the irrigation box and see a larger and longer-term picture, then Kelowna would do as Vernon has done and remove the sewer outfall from the lake completely, to do their part in keeping our 135 kilometre-long lake clean and pristine.

If City of Kelowna planners could consider using the sewer outfall for irrigation and not put it into the lake to foul up the water quality that IHA demands, we could all be winners.

If Kelowna’s bright people at city hall think it is OK to dump sewer outfall into our lake and drinking water, then the same bright people could OK the sewer outfall for strictly irrigation purposes as does the City of Vernon — they seem to have very bright people.

Farmers who do not want this sewer outfall for irrigation could opt for mountain water and the sewer outfall water could be used on vacant non farm land.

I sure hope the bright people who will make some decision regarding this problem can see “the light” for our long term future of a clean lake.

It may be somewhat more expensive to do the “right thing” now, because attempting tomorrow to right the wrong done today will be much more expensive, if possible.

If Okanagan Lake cannot meet IHA standards in the future, where do you believe your drinking water will come from?

Did you know that all the people who live below the flood plain of Rose Valley reservoir, that the Earth-filled dam has no means of draw down? I.E., the reservoir cannot be emptied if need be in an emergency. Keep your boats gassed up and ready. I really do care about our lake.

Jorgen Hansen, Kelowna