WC145 NovDec 2025 - Magazine - Page 22
TOP 50 PROJECT
Strengthening the System
New water main looks to ease pressure in Coquitlam
BY SAUL CHERNOS
ITH GROWTH and climate
change putting water supplies
to the test across Metro Vancouver, Canada’s third largest
metropolitan region is building a major new main to accommodate
rising demand.
Metro Vancouver serves three million
people across 21 member municipalities as
well as a separate electoral district and one
treaty First Nation, and it’s been a challenge keeping up with soaring population
numbers and weather extremes.
The region’s water needs are considerable. Every day, residences and businesses
consume roughly one billion litres, with
lawn watering and other outdoor uses
hiking daily usage to more than 1.5 billion
litres. Three major watersheds fuel three
reservoirs, five dams, two water treatment
plants, eight re-chlorination facilities, 19
pump stations, 27 storage tanks, and over
520 kilometres of water main.
Numbers like these might seem to
downplay any potential risk to the ready
availability of water in the region. However, the reservoirs are typically full between
October and April, when most of the rain
falls and the snow melts in the higher
elevations, and supplies quickly diminish
in the drier summer months, leading to
ongoing restrictions on lawn watering and
periodic restrictions on other outdoor uses.
With water demands and shortages
expected to intensify in the years ahead
due to climate change, Metro Vancouver has $3 billion worth of water related
infrastructure projects on tap over the
next five years. One key endeavour is a
Metro Vancouver
W
Saul Chernos is a freelance
writer for Water Canada.
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WATER C AN ADA • NOV EMBER/ DECEMBER 2025
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
