The wastewater collection system is a sanitary system with the Regional facilities consisting of 10 km of pipe and 1 pump station. When we pull the plug in the bathtub or flush the toilet, few of us give much thought to where the wastewater is going. Wastewater doesn't just disappear when it leaves our homes and businesses. Every day millions of litres must travel through thousands of kilometres of pipe to treatment plants before it can be safely discharged to the Fraser River or the ocean. Together, these form our wastewater collection system.
Sanitary sewers account for the majority of sewers in the region.
Municipal street sewers flow directly into the largest of all sanitary sewer pipes, GVRD trunk sewers. Trunk sewer pipes can reach diameters of over 3.5 metres. To reach a treatment plant, wastewater must flow through these sewers for up to 35 km. Along the way, pump stations raise the wastewater over high points of land so it can continue to flow downhill by gravity. Storm sewers carry stormwater to the nearest stream, river, lake or ocean.