To enhance education on campus surrounding the Fill It Forward program, the TRU Sustainability office went straight to the source to learn about Kamloops’s high-quality drinking water.

Commissioned in 2005, the Kamloops Centre for Water Quality uses advanced membrane filtration technology within a LEED certified setting.

Water from the South Thompson River enters the treatment plant via intake pumps, and goes to a coagulation and flocculation chamber to separate dirt from the water, creating large particles that are easily removed by the primary membrane filters. Ultra 0.04 micron filtration membranes clean the water, then chlorine is added and the water is before leaving the treatment plant through distribution pumps.

The dirty water filtered out during the primary membrane filtration process is sent through a secondary filtration process which results in even more retained water for community use.

Rejected water from secondary membrane filters is treated by a micro-bubble process that floats dirt to the top, where it is skimmed and put through a dewatering centrifuge. The resulting solid material is sent to the Kamloops Resource Recovery Centre for use as landfill cover, which controls moisture, gas emissions and odors.

TRU Sustainability regularly promotes the city’s clean and delicious water as part of Fill It Forward program education. To join in Fill It Forward, download the app, grab a sticker from a supporting campus office and bring your reusable water bottle or mug to campus. There are plenty of water refill stations  throughout the campus.