Kelowna Area Water Supply & Treatment Options Study
The City of Kelowna Water Utility - along with the Glenmore-Ellison Improvement District, the South East Kelowna Irrigation District, the Black Mountain Irrigation District, and the Rutland Waterworks District - are committed to developing and implementing a long-term water supply strategy for the city of Kelowna.
The goal is to ensure the supply of clean and safe water to all residents while adequately addressing issues such as redundancy within existing water systems, readiness for regulatory changes in the water quality and the separation of domestic and agricultural supply systems.
The Study
In 2009, Council requested a long-term strategy and review of Kelowna’s water treatment and supply systems available. The resulting technical study: City Wide Water Supply and Treatment Options Evaluation 
(Associated Engineering, June 2010) takes an in-depth look at all the water systems within the City Limits and provides recommendations about treatment and supply options for the future.
The report also provided preliminary technical background to support applications for provincial funding of various short and long-term water quality capital improvement projects planned by the water purveyors operating in Kelowna.
The study revealed a number of options that could be considered to provide:
- safe and reliable domestic water to all Kelowna residents compliant with Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines
,
- reliable and affordable water to both agricultural and domestic customers
- the least possible life-cycle costs.
Using the technical information and recommendations obtained through the study, the City and each of the five principle water purveyors will collaboratively determine a long term planning strategy for the city as a whole.
A Memorandum of Understanding between each purveyor is currently being drafted to guide future collaborative work.