Wastewater Upgrades at Fisherman’s Resort and Marina

Project Highlights

Fisherman’s Resort and Marina, located in Garden Bay BC, began as a small live-bait and boat rental business in the early 1960s and evolved into a resort and marina.  The site included a primary residence, four seasonal cottages, and an office/tackle shop, each with an individual septic tank and effluent disposal field.

With a change in ownership came new development plans: waterfront cottages were remodeled; the principal residence was rebuilt; RV sites were added complete with laundry facilities; and the office/tackle shop was expanded.  The new owner retained Kerr Wood Leidal to upgrade the wastewater facilities to treat increased flows volumes, build in flexibility for future expansion of the resort, and satisfy all the new regulations.

KWL’s site investigation revealed many constraints to upgrading the wastewater treatment system, including limited space for facility setback requirements, steep, well forested terrain, rock outcrops, and existing buildings that occupied potential new effluent disposal sites.

KWL identified and reviewed several package plant options for the wastewater treatment system, and several sites for effluent dispersal by subsurface means.  The Glendon Biofilter system was chosen because it provides a high level of wastewater treatment, flexibility in terms of construction phasing, readily monitored and maintained by the supplier, and has the smallest footprint available to fit the site.

The owner’s objective was to minimize the impact that such an undertaking would have on the character and charm of this resort.  The Glendon Biofilter was constructed on a previously existing gravel parking lot at the entrance to the resort.  The parking lot was excavated, and the treatment plant was built into a raised landscaped garden that now forms part of a grand entrance to the site.