High-density new homes and other projects in Vancouver have stalled due to inadequate sewer capacity
Traffic backs up on Main Street as a sign warns of delays due to construction near the future site of the Mount Pleasant SkyTrain Station, in Vancouver, on July 29, 2021.The City of Vancouver siphons 360 million litres of water from the local reservoirs every year, delivered to residents and businesses via a vast network of underground pipes. Countless millions of litres more fall from the sky in the same time period. And the city’s sewer system has to carry away much of it.
Then when hundreds of new apartments and townhouses are added to a small area, which covers some of the land that would normally be used to soak up rain, and adds potentially thousands of toilets, washers, sinks, and other water-using devices, that can overwhelm the system. Work is underway on the relocation of the water line and sanitary sewer in preparation for the new SkyTrain station and tunnel.Those companies did not respond to requests for comment by The Globe and Mail, but developer Jon Stovell, who owns eight properties on hold along sewer-challenged Broadway, said it has become a significant issue for the industry.
An internal audit in 2019 stated that the system had been getting replaced at a rate of about 0.6 per cent a year for the previous 10 years. That’s considerably below the one per cent a year always considered the minimum prior to that. Mr. LaClaire said he is working to get the rate back up to the previous target, as his predecessor, Jerry Dobrovolny, had been trying to do as well.
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