Effluent Irrigation Reports
In the Spring of 2002, the Silver Star Mountain sewage treatment system reached a crisis stage where the exfiltration lagoon almost overflowed. It was at this point that the sewage utility had to come up with an alternate method of effluent disposal in order to lower the level of the lagoon. Although the discharge permit allows for disposal of effluent via snowmaking, this is comparatively expensive and labor intensive. In the end, the sewage utility proposed implementing an effluent irrigation program, with the first trial commencing in the Fall of 2002.
The program was expanded in 2003 to include the Phase 1 and 2 irrigation areas, covering a 6 hectare forested area immediately adjacent to the sewage lagoons. In this way, the sewage utility did not have to rely on exfiltration alone for effluent disposal, and the lagoon level could be lowered to the point where excavators could scrape the lagoon bottom in order to increase the exfiltration rate.
The Municipal Sewage Regulation (MSR) stipulates that there must be two exfiltration basins, each capable of storing the entire year's accumulation of effluent (to allow maintenance to be conducted while one basin remains in operation). However, B.C. ski resorts are exempt from many of the requirements of the MSR, which is ironic considering the sensitive areas that they typically operate within. Thus, Silver Star's sewage treatment system is permitted to operate with only one exfiltration basin, lacking capacity to store the annual flow volume. Because much of the effluent seeps out from the unlined lagoon, the system is able to operate without overflowing. As the resort grows however, the lagoon will likely fill to capacity midway through the ski season, necessitating disposal via snowmaking.
To learn more about the effluent irrigation program at Silver Star Mountain, click the icons below. Highlights and areas of concern will be discussed below (content to be added shortly).
Silver Star Mountain Resort and Silverhawk Utilities Plan Golf Course Logging
In a poorly conceived, desperate attempt to increase the area available for spray irrigation, the ski resort and its sewage utility hatched a plan to clearcut the golf course fairways and run a sewage effluent line down to the golf course area. Even though there were no detailed plans to actually build a golf course, this bizarre strategy was approved both by the Ministry of Tourism Culture and the Arts, and by the Ministry of Environment. Click the icon below to view correspondence between the resort and the sewage utility as they plan the clearcutting of the golf course fairways.
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