The regional district has made a big land purchase in Delta for the future of the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant next door.
A report to Metro Vancouver’s Finance Committee notes the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District in March purchased an industrial property located at 1223 Derwent Way for $37.15 million.
Just under five acres, the land is centrally on Annacis Island.
A spokesperson for Metro confirmed the newly purchased parcel is to enlarge the footprint of the wastewater treatment plant to allow for future expansion or upgrade projects beyond the work currently planned or underway.
To accommodate population growth, the plant has been undergoing several big projects to increase treatment capacity, while others are in the planning stages.
One project is a proposed new Digester No. 5, and the long-range capital plan had identified a total budget of $456 million for the design and construction of that project, which would be reviewed further in a Definition Stage.
Digesters convert organic sludge into biosolids in the overall wastewater treatment process.
A regional district staff report last fall noted that due to continued population growth in the region and the upgrade of Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant and Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant to secondary treatment, the amount of primary and secondary sludge produced from Metro Vancouver’s regional wastewater treatment plants is expected to more than double over the next decade.
A review of options confirmed the need for an additional digester at the Annacis Island plant to accommodate that growth as well as to allow the facility to continue to provide regional digestion capacity during planned maintenance or process changes at the other plants.
The analysis also recommended that a subsequent new digester, called Digester No. 6, be considered in the future.
Meanwhile, a demonstration-scale project for a new use of wastewater sludge is coming to the treatment plant.
Metro Vancouver’s Liquid Waste Committee recently endorsed recommendation be forwarded to the regional district’s board to approve a $12 million contract for site preparation, installation, tie-in connections and commissioning of the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) Demonstration Plant.
HTL converts wastewater sludge into biocrude, instead of producing biosolids. The biocrude can then be refined into low-carbon transportation fuels.
The regional district wants to evaluate the emerging technology before recommending a subsequent scale-up for permanent implementation.
In another area, a new outfall at the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant is now conveying effluent to the Fraser River.
A recent report to Metro Vancouver’s Liquid Waste Committee noted that major milestone was achieved on Jan. 13, 2025, when, after years of planning and construction, the plant’s treated effluent was diverted from an old outfall to the new outfall.
The old outfall had reached its capacity limitation, so, as the plant is expanding to treat more sewage, more outfall capacity is required, the report noted, adding that the expansion will serve an increase of about a quarter of million people.
