Thornhill Water System

The Thornhill Water System services approximately 1140 customers in Thornhill, from the Copper Mountain Subdivision through the Queensway, Churchill Drive, and the bench area. The system relies on two wells in the Copper Mountain Subdivision, a well on Hemlock Street which currently services the Bench area only (previously the Woodlands Water System), a reservoir on the hillside along Old Lakelse lake Road, a reservoir on Thornhill Street, a smaller reservoir and fire pump at Thornhill Junior High School and water mains of 100 mm to 300 mm diameter.

In 1997, the Regional district completed a Sewer and Water Master Plan for Thornhill to guide longer term installation of community water and septic disposal systems. The Regional District purchased the Woodlands Water System in 2008 and the Water Master Plan is being updated to assist with integrating the Thornhill and Woodlands Systems

The water chemistry in the Woodlands system well is somewhat different from the Regional District system wells (See Water Quality Analysis PDF). Manganese is present in higher concentrations in the Woodland’s system than the Regional District system. Manganese is an aesthetic concern that may cause staining and taste problems. It is also present in the Woodland’s system in amounts above Canadian Drinking water objectives, but not to levels that pose health concerns. As a result a Woodlands well will be “mothballed” and kept as an emergency back up for its remaining life cycle.

Woodlands Acquisition plans include developing an additional well to serve the entire community and physically linking the Regional District and Woodlands systems, with a booster station. This will also resolve the current reservoir storage deficiency on the Woodlands System and meet current minimum municipal fire flow standards. All other identified deficiencies on the Woodlands system will be addressed including the installation of additional fire hydrants and water main looping, carrying out wellhead improvements and increasing system security.

It will take 2-3 years for the interconnection and upgrades to be completed and during the planning and construction phase of this proposed project, the Regional District will continue to operate the systems independently.

Documents: 

2010 Water Quality Results