Mike Bernier, the mayor of Dawson Creek, couldn't help but laugh as he described how his community is overcoming a water problem by getting the oil and gas industry to pay for sewage treatment.
"We had a great plan for reusing our wastewater. We just didn't have the $10-million we needed. But when we put out a request for proposals, Shell beat all our expectations - in fact, they said they would pay for the whole thing," said an obviously delighted Mr. Bernier, whose town is about to become the first in North America to see its sewage reused for gas extraction.
This summer, construction will start on a new wastewater treatment plant that will upgrade the quality of about 400,000 cubic meters of sewage a day to a standard that makes the water useable by the oil and gas industry.
When the plant is in operation, Shell Canada will be provided about 300,000 cubic meters daily and the city will be allowed to sell whatever is left over to other companies - which could generate revenue of up to $500,000 a year.
"It's clearly a win-win for everyone," said Mr. Bernier, whose town is now sending about 20 per cent of its drinking water to the oil and gas industry, which pumps water down wells to fracture rock and release natural gas.
Located in northeast B.C., Dawson Creek is in the heart of the province's booming oil and gas sector.
Mr. Bernier said the wastewater that is flushed through Dawson Creek's treatment plant is currently discharged back into the environment, released into a stream that has the same name as the city. But the oil and gas industry couldn't use that wastewater, because it wasn't clean enough to be handled directly by work crews.
"To be used by industry it had to be notched up a level," he said.
Mr. Bernier said that after the sewage in treatment ponds is treated a second time at the new plant, "it will basically be just one level below potable." In addition to being acceptable for injection into wells, the retreated water can be used to irrigate sports fields and clean streets.
"There are a lot of positive spinoffs to this and no negatives," he said.
Mr. Bernier said he's not aware of any other town in North America that's retreating its wastewater for sale to industry, but he expects the idea to catch on.
"It makes economic sense. And it's good conservation. Once we get industry off using our potable water, our community planners say we can continue to grow until 2035 without doing anything to increase our drinking water supply," he said.
Ed Greenberg, a spokesman for Shell Canada, said the company has embraced the project as a way to reduce the amount of clean water it uses and to cut back the number of tanker trucks hauling water to well sites. A pipeline from the treatment plant to a gas field will mean 85 fewer trucks on the road every day.
"We feel it's an innovative way to reduce fresh water use in the area, and we are always interested in working with communities," he said.
Mark Hume