The system on site (top) and the water recycling system with controls being programmed at BI Pure Water’s factory
Recent Projects
Racing to completion before winter
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Sept 2015
BI Pure Water employees and local contractors raced time to re-construct their water treatment plant before the first winter snow arrived to stay in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. It turns out they only had three weeks to do it when the snow began sticking Sept 16.
Three weeks to assemble Cambridge Bay’s new water treatment plant before winter sets in
The plant had been constructed in Vancouver over spring, tested and then partially taken apart and put on a semi-truck. The truck arrived in Hay River, just past the Alberta border, where the four parts were lifted onto one of only one or two barges a year that travel the longest river in Canada, the 1900km Mackenzie River, to Northwest Passage communities. The plant’s barge arrived in Cambridge Bay Aug. 22. Timelines were tight indeed — but not as tight as the year before when vaults for the pipeline were stranded outside Cambridge Bay due to the harbour freezing before the barge arrived in Oct.
Currently the Northwest Passage is only accessible by ships that have been strengthened against ice and only during the warmest time of the year. However there is speculation that within the next few decades with global warming that the Northwest Passage may become a viable transportation route for ships year-round.
Cambridge Bay needed to quickly expand capacity for potable water in expectation of the new Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) being established. The general contractor hired BI Pure Water to design and manufacture the water treatment system. CHARS was announced as part of the government Economic Action Plan and will be a year-round multi-disciplinary facility researching environmental and resource development.
Cambridge Bay’s new water treatment plant which upgrades the community water supply from chlorination-only to filtration-UV-chlorination as well as expanded capacity, is now closed up for the winter but will be put into operation as soon as the snow melts next spring. The short construction season makes it a challenge for Arctic communities and BI Pure Water!
Coppermine River community builds for future growth
Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Sept, 2015
Kugluktuk on the Coppermine River has a population of 1450, but it’s increasing – 10 per cent since last census. With its location at the mouth of the river and on the shore of the Arctic Ocean, the drinking water suffers from turbidity, solids, and salinity. A new water treatment system was built at BI Pure Water’s factory in Vancouver in 15 parts, directly after Cambridge Bay’s plant was shipped. It was a busy spring and July for BI Pure Water. The assemblies were loaded on the second and last summer barge destined for the Arctic Ocean.
When the assemblies arrived in Kugluktuk 4 weeks later they were moved to a building being completed on site. With winter coming on quickly, the parts to the plant have been closed up, to be reopened and assembled into a new treatment system with the snowmelt next spring. The treatment system upgrade will improve the chlorination-only facility to a system with coagulation-flocculation-clarification and sand as well as filtration, UV, chlorination and prepare the community for future growth.
Reseau’s mobile pilot systems in tall service van, trailer and the final cost effective treatment plant built for Lytton, BC
Another mobile water treatment plant hits the road to First Nations communities
Vancouver, BC, Oct 2015
A mobile water treatment system designed and built for UBC researchers and RES’EAU WaterNET — a group of experts formed to find solutions to small community water challenges — is now on the road to another community.
UBC asked for a second, smaller pilot treatment system to fit into a cargo van with high roof, similar to service vehicles. This posed a challenge for BI Pure Water engineers to fit the variety of treatment systems needed for testing various water sources into the small space. The previous mobile plant was built in a larger trailer.
The mobile plant will visit First Nations and small communities and gather data and community input to create a custom, cost-efficient water treatment system to serve these communities well into the future. In addition to a variety of filtration, chemical/chlorine injection, and UV treatment systems the van is equipped with a custom UV lamp for destroying pesticide and industrial pollutants.
The van is the third mobile unit for UBC and RES’EAU WaterNET’s “Community Circle” program. Two others are currently at work at Texada Island and on Vancouver Island.
As a result of the Community Circle program, a permanent system was built for the community of Nickeyeah near Lytton in May. After years of having to buy water bottles, the people can now drink water out of the tap.