West Moberly First Nation Water System Improvements
Document reference number: 1
West Moberly First Nations Water System Improvements – Public Comments Invited
[June 9, 2025] – Indigenous Services Canada must determine whether the proposed West Moberly First Nations Water System Improvements Project, located on West Moberly Lake IR #168A, is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.
To help inform this determination, Indigenous Services Canada is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.
Written comments must be submitted by July 9th, 2025 to:
Ashley Smith
bcciarpubliccomments@sac-isc.gc.ca
The West Moberly First Nations community is in need of a new Water Treatment Plant (WTP). The proposed WTP will have a footprint of approximately 13x19 meters. A detailed description of the project is provided in Section B below. This is a long-term project with a lifespan of over 25 years. The proposed WTP will have a footprint of approximately 13x19 meters. The water pre-treatment process includes clarification via tube settlers. Sediment will settle out at the bottom of the clarifier tanks as sludge. Sludge will be decanted from the tanks into an external sludge tank as required. The sludge will accumulate in the tank until it is full and requires disposal. No sludge will be disposed of at site, and will be pumped out and trucked to the existing West Moberly wastewater lagoons for disposal.
The water treatment process includes membrane filtration. The membrane filtration modules require periodic cleaning by flushing with treated water, as well as treated water mixed with chemicals. Cleaning chemicals include sulphuric acid, sodium hydroxide, and sodium hypochlorite. After a chemical flush is completed from the membranes, the residuals will be discharged into a tank inside of the WTP for neutralization. The mixture will be neutralized and monitored by pH and ORP transmitters to confirm neutralization. Once neutralization has been achieved, the neutralized residuals will flow into an above ground steel bolted tank on site for storage. The tank includes an overflow pipe at the top of tank, which will periodically discharge neutralized residuals into the forested area adjacent to the treatment plant site. The flow path through leads to Cameron Creek (approximately 800 m to the west), which feeds into Moberly Lake. The WTP will have a washroom, which will discharge into a septic tank. The septic effluent will not be discharged on site, and will be regularly pumped out and disposed of at the existing West Moberly wastewater lagoons. There will be a treated water pipe running from the new WTP to the treated water reservoir, as well as a pipe running from the reservoir to the WTP to provide water service to the building for the washroom, sinks, safety showers, etc.