Now that Gibsons is home to new craft brewers and distillers, the Town’s engineering department wants council to consider special wastewater fees to reflect the unique material those operations send into the sewer system.
In a report for the Sept. 19 committee of the whole meeting, director of engineering Dave Newman suggests following the lead of communities like Metro Vancouver and Kelowna, which impose a surcharge on brewers and distillers.
The report says staff are already working with the owners of both of the breweries that opened this year on a technical analysis of their wastewater output, and they’ve also installed pre-treatment equipment to monitor and adjust wastewater pH before it’s discharged.
That equipment is being recommended as a future requirement in the Sanitary Regulation bylaw. The other unique characteristics of the wastewater from brewing, distilling and winemaking include higher total suspended solids and higher biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
All of that can drive up the cost of running and maintaining wastewater treatment systems, which is why several municipalities charge the extra fees.
The report suggests a surcharge of between $750 and $1,000 per year for operations producing less than 2,000 hectolitres of beer, cider or wine. The recommended fee for a distillery is $500 because the impact on BOD is lower.
The report also recommends that breweries or distilleries be required to notify the Town if they ever have to flush an entire batch of product into the sewage system.
