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Treatment summary
Highlights
Two treatment facilities operated in April – June 2022 (Q2).
- The West Line Creek Active Water Treatment Facility (AWTF) was fully operational. However, it experienced two maintenance shutdowns. Problems with the gravity thickener also resulted in reduced operations in June.
- The Elkview Operations Saturated Rock Fill (EVO SRF) operated at reduced capacity this quarter. After April 9, 2022, it treated water only from Natal Pit and not Erickson Creek because the Erickson pipeline was taken offline to investigate potential obstructions. New air release valves were installed in the pipeline to address the issue. Following repairs, the pipeline remained offline so EVR could investigate unusual findings from their aquatic insect monitoring program in Erickson Creek.
Start-up of the new Fording River South Active Water Treatment Facility (FRO-S AWTF) was ongoing until June 30, 2022.
- Over the spring (during Q2), flows were gradually increased in the second of three treatment trains. The third treatment train began its start-up phase.
- Despite still being in the start-up phase, the FRO-S AWTF set new Elk Valley records for selenium and nitrate removal.
Fording River Operations North 1 Saturated Rockfill (FRO-N1 SRF) treatment facility is currently in development.
- The first phase of this facility (treatment capacity of 9,500 m³/day) has been permitted and is being prepared for start-up.
- Water is circulating within the facility, but is not yet discharging to the environment.
- Permit applications for the second phase, which will bring the capacity up to 30,000 m³/day, are under review by B.C government regulators.
Overall, Elk Valley treatment facilities operated at approximately 50% of total potential capacity this quarter. Facilities removed 557 kg of selenium and 59,504 kg of nitrate. These are the largest quarterly removals of selenium and nitrate to-date in the Elk Valley.
Treatment progress
Amount of selenium removed and remaining in the Elk River
Amount of nitrate removed and remaining in the Elk River
The graphs above show the total estimated amount of selenium and nitrate in the Elk River at Fernie as grey bars, and the amount of selenium (green bars) and nitrate (blue bars) removed by treatment, each quarter.
The substance amounts removed by treatment continued to increase during the second quarter of 2022. Removal gains resulting from increased treatment at the FRO-S AWTF were somewhat offset by reduced operations at the EVO SRF. As a result, the actual removal amounts were less than what would be expected at full treatment capacity, but still higher than previous years.
- Selenium removal increased by 4% from the previous quarter and was approximately 100% greater than during the second quarter of 2021.
- Nitrate removal increased by 15% from the previous quarter and was 165% greater than during the second quarter of 2021.
Consistent with the increase in treatment, the amount removed compared to the amount measured in the Elk River also increased from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022. This can be visualized by comparing the relative size of the colored bars and the grey bars in each quarter. The amount of each substance removed is still fairly small compared to the amount in the Elk River.
The substance amounts in the Elk River are calculated from water quality data collected by EVR and flow data collected by the Water Survey of Canada. The amount of each substance in the Elk River varies with the amount of flow in the river. In general, the higher the flow the greater the amount, and vice-versa.
