RV Sani-Dump to Close
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In response to the impact the RV sani-dump station is having on the Village of Cumberland wastewater treatment plant, the Village has made the difficult decision to close its RV sani-dump station.
For the past two years the Village has seen a significant increase in the use of this public facility, likely caused by the closure of other facilities in the region, leaving the Village facility as the only publicly accessible sani-dump station between Miracle Beach Provincial Park and Parksville. In this time, testing at the Cumberland wastewater treatment plant has seen a substantial rise in both biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids which results in a negative effect of effluent quality.
“Treatment products and the concentration of septic waste from RV offloads are impacting the wastewater treatment process. While we would typically see exceedances in the summer months, they were not at the levels that we are now experiencing, and in fact, we are struggling to maintain effluent compliance in the winter months as well,” says Rob Crisfield, Village of Cumberland Operations Manager.
The Cumberland wastewater plant is being upgraded to meet the provincial and federal standards and the expected community growth. Currently the Cumberland wastewater system is out of compliance with the provincial requirements of its operating permit and is now under a consent order to complete the works. The Village has also received a federal enforcement warning letter from Environment Canada and Climate Change about significant fines if the Village does not take the necessary corrective steps to comply with both the Fisheries Act and the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations.
“The decision to close the RV sani-dump station was tough considering it is one of the only facilities on the North Island. However, it just is not responsible for us to add the amount of RV wastewater we were receiving into a system that is currently out of compliance. We hope that another sani-dump station is opened that is better placed to service the region and that has greater capacity to receive this volume of RV wastewater,” says Mayor Vickey Brown.
In recognition of the continued challenges with the wastewater treatment system in Cumberland, the Village will proceed with closure of the station.
To keep informed of the Wastewater Upgrades project progress, please visit cumberland.ca/wastewaterupgrades, or email wwt-upgrades@nullcumberland.ca.
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