Our team is delivering the Stage IV Expansion of the 106,562 sq. ft. French Creek Pollution Control Centre (FCPCC), a major upgrade to an active wastewater treatment facility serving the Parksville area for the Regional District of Nanaimo.
The project is expanding capacity to serve a growing population while keeping the plant fully operational throughout construction. Existing secondary clarifiers are being converted to primary treatment, a new Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR)-based secondary process is being built. Additionally, both the new and existing plants’ odour control is being significantly improved through enclosed treatment areas and a new biofilter system. Partway through design, our team identified that the originally planned activated sludge process would be too costly and space-intensive for the site’s challenging ground conditions, and led the shift to MBBR technology instead, a change expected to save the project more than $28 million while still meeting treatment and effluent quality targets.
One of the project’s most delicate components involved Morning Star Creek, a fish-bearing waterway running through the site. An existing bridge carrying live process piping and electrical had to be removed and replaced with a new culvert crossing, all within a narrow in-stream work window. Our team rerouted live piping and power, safely relocated approximately 400 salmon fry, and worked closely with the Province, DFO, and local Indigenous groups to complete the excavation, culvert installation, and backfilling before the window closed, and restored creek flow within days of the closure.
Throughout construction, our team worked hand in hand with plant operators to keep the facility running without disruption, holding weekly planning sessions and using visual boards to track work in every process area. Given the site’s coastal location, the project also raises the elevation of the entire plant to address long-term climate and storm surge risks, supported by extensive site modelling to guide the approach.
Through this expansion, the Regional District of Nanaimo will have a modernized treatment facility built to serve a growing population well into the future, with improved odour control, energy efficiency, and long-term reliability.
