Colwood Mayor Dave Saunders said the West Shore will lead the way in sewage treatment, now that it's doing it on its own.

Colwood and Langford councils voted unanimously in favour of choosing their own sewage treatment site and their own technology, instead of being grouped in with the rest of the Capital Regional District.

"The way the CRD is dealing with sewage treatment is kind of backwards," said Saunders, who often grew frustrated at sewage committee meetings.

Instead of picking sites first, as the sewage committee is doing, the West Shore will treat technology as an equal if not leading partner.

"What is the best fit between technology and a site? That's what we're looking for."

West Shore politicians also think they can do it less expensively than the CRD, although they don't have actual costs yet.

Sewage and wastewater needs are much different in the newer communities of Langford and Colwood. In the CRD, different communities have different ages of pipes carrying waste. Some are much older and need more work, such as those in Oak Bay. Langford and Colwood faced most of their growth in the past 20 years, so their pipes are in much better condition.

Unlike much of the CRD, the West Shore storm drains don't go into their sewers, so they have less water to deal with. Instead, their storm drains go into ditching and bioswales, landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water.

"Our sewage is completely different, as funny as that sounds," Saunders said.

"We don't have leachates from the Hartland landfill, or all the heavy pharmaceuticals coming from hospitals."

While the CRD is to have its site selection in by the end of the year, the West Shore has been given an extension until February. It must also have a biosolids facility in place in the West Shore within the next 10 years.

Saunders says he's had many calls from companies and developers eager to take part in sewage treatment. Westhills development in Langford is already incorporating sewage treatment into its plan, and the West Shore could tap into that, as well as future green developments, saving capital costs, Saunders said.

Several potential sites have already been identified for a treatment facility but not yet chosen. The first choice is on West Shore parks and recreation land, Saunders said. Other potential sites include land outside city hall or municipally owned land on Metchosin Road.

"Any site we pick has to provide excellent energy recovery for the community. That's vital," Saunders said.

The West Shore doesn't want to use land that takes away from the municipal tax base. That was one of the main problems the West Shore had with the sewage committee. One early site suggested by the CRD was the waterfront gravel pit on Metchosin Road, land that Saunders said could be the "Uplands of Colwood." Calling the six-hectares a potential sewage treatment plant site decreased its assessed value by $1 million, something the municipality is appealing to the B.C. Assessment Authority.

"You don't take valuable land out of your tax base," Saunders said. Instead, he said, new sewage treatment technologies are such that a plant can be located at many creative locations, including on the bottom floor of a purpose-built parkade.

He suggested the CRD could even do something similar at the Victoria General Hospital parking lot, with sewage treatment on the ground floor and office space for doctors above.

"Capture the heat and energy from the treatment plant for use at the hospital," Saunders suggested.

The West Shore plans to request proposals for the technologies for treatment, and let that guide the site selection, he said.

"It's the only way to get good value and I'd think the provincial and federal governments would want that, too."