Sechelt Water Resource Centre

Maple Reinders was selected to provide the District of Sechelt with an innovative wastewater treatment solution. The team selected the unique Organica FBR™ system, used for the first time in North America on the Sechelt project.

The Organica FBR™ system improves the natural phenomena used in wastewater treatment through the interaction of living organisms able to digest a portion of the organic pollution. Bathed in the biological tanks, the plant roots create an ideal receiving environment for bacteria and other living organisms. Organica FBR™ thus recreates a self-managing ecosystem of several hundred species – plants, animals, bacteria and other organisms – able to capture their energy in the presence of air and sunlight, which maximizes the biological decomposition of contaminants. The ecosystem created evolves as water treatment progresses and its available organic matter content changes. This cascading series of self-regulating environments creates an excellent, robust treatment system that requires little maintenance.

The LEED^® Gold certified Sechelt Water Resource Centre is Maple Reinders’ most awarded project to date, with eight awards, including the CCA Environmental Achievement Award and the Canadian Design-Build Institute Awards of Excellence. The facility currently lends itself to serving as an environmental teaching facility and a botanical garden.