Contract awarded for new Pritchard Water Treatment Plant

Water Canada
October 29, 2024

Kamloops, BC – The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) Board of Directors has approved the contract award for construction of a new water filtration plant for the Pritchard Community Water System, which is expected to significantly improve drinking water quality for customers once completed.

The contract has been awarded to Kamloops-based True Construction for a maximum cost of $4.75 million. The total project cost including engineering, design work, and contingency funding, is $6.15 million.

Notably, federal and provincial grants are funding 98% ($6 million) of project costs, with the remaining $150,000 being funded through the Pritchard Community Water System reserve fund. Grant funding sources include a grant worth $4.95 million through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, and $1.05 million allocated through the Growing Communities Fund.

“Thank you to the leadership of both TNRD staff and the Board to get the project to this stage. We are grateful to have received significant grant funding to ensure this project will proceed,” said Lee Morris, TNRD Director of Electoral Area “P” (Rivers and the Peaks). “Due to turbidity from the South Thompson River intake, customers on the Pritchard water system have been regularly on a Water Quality Advisory or a Boil Water Notice. Once a filtration system is built, water quality will immediately improve for residents.”

The new Pritchard water filtration plant is expected to be complete by late 2025.

The new water filtration plant project coincides with an ongoing construction project to upgrade the Pritchard Community Sewer System, which has operated since 1998. Main mechanical components will be replaced, and treatment processing equipment will be upgraded in order to meet Ministry of Environment sewage discharge requirements. This project is also expected to be completed in late 2025. The project cost is $2.15 million and is 82% grant funded ($1.755 million). The remaining $395,000 will be covered by sewer system reserve funds.

The TNRD owns and operates the Pritchard community water and sewage systems, located in Electoral Area “P.” These systems each have approximately 231 connections and serve an estimated population of 520 people as of late 2024.