Construction of a 1.2-kilometre sewer line will get underway Aug. 1 on Pipeline Road as a precursor to all-season flush toilets at Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park.
The Capital Regional District has budgeted $520,000 for design and construction of the Saanich line and is warning of weekday traffic delays and closures until the project is completed in October.
The pipeline will connect the washrooms at Beaver Beach and Filter Beds to the Saanich municipal sewer system.
The washrooms will remain open, but users are advised to use caution around crews and equipment. Measures will be taken to minimize impacts to the environment, particularly along Colquitz River, the CRD said in a statement.
A “pump and haul” system is currently used to remove sewage from the washrooms three times a week. The cost in 2015 was about $35,000 per year. The hookup was estimated then as saving the CRD about $700,000 over 20 years.
“Connecting to the municipal sewer system will enable these facilities to be open year-round to the public, reduce annual operating costs and eliminate the need to truck waste from these facilities,” said a statement from the CRD.
Although the park is in Saanich, the CRD will pay for both the pipeline and future washroom upgrades, said CRD spokesman Andy Orr.
The “need for washroom facilities continues to increase and improved facilities are required,” the CRD states. The regional park draws close to 1.5 million visits a year.
Because the park is outside the municipal sewer service area, Saanich amended its Official Community Plan in 2015 so the CRD could extend the sewer service area to include the washroom facilities.
The 600-square-foot Beaver Beach washrooms date to the 1950s, and the Filter Beds toilets under the parking lot at the south end of the lake to the 1970s. The latter have no power, heat, running water or sink.
Both facilities are open only between May and November.
The land in the Filter Beds area is unstable, preventing the installation of a septic field.
