City Tours

What happens to the water after you flush the toilet or wash the dishes? Staff will walk you through the processes required to process wastewater.

• Learn about how, and why, wastewater is treated (and walk through the steps to see the transformation). 
• Hear about the importance of water conservation. 
• Learn about what cannot be flushed down the toilet (learn about the 3 P’s).

The Facts

• Did you know that almost half of the water you use in your homes ends up going down the drains? 
• Treating our wastewater is crucial to protect the ecosystem around us. It’s also a matter of public safety. 
• Reclaimed water is used to irrigate city parks, sports fields, school grounds and the Penticton Golf and Country Club.
• The Okanagan College and the Wastewater Treatment Plant also uses the reclaimed water for toilet flushing.
• For details steps involving the water treatment process, visit the City's Wastewater Treatment webpage.

Location 

The Wastewater Treatment Plant is located at 459 Waterloo Avenue, Penticton. Access to site is at the end of Waterloo Avenue, which has a controlled gate. Parking for buses is best in the truck turn-around outside the gate. Parking for smaller vehicles is available to the left inside the gate. Come to the front door to meet your tour guide.

Tour Details 

Tours are offered to community groups upon request and are booked on a first-come, first serve basis. Groups should be ideally no more than 20 people. The tours are 1.5 hours in length. Please be aware this facility has stairs and is not wheelchair-accessible. All participants should wear closed-toe shoes and weather-appropriate clothing, since much of the tour is outdoors. 

Book Your Tour 

Phone: 250-490-2550
Email: joel.mertz@penticton.ca

The City is in the process of creating fact sheets to provide to tour groups (stay tuned for updates). The following educational materials are available from the Okanagan Basin Water Board: 

•    Our Relationship with Water in the Okanagan (school curriculum guide)
•    Posters for classrooms: Okanagan Basin Waterscape poster & Choose Your Watershed poster 
•    Handouts for kids: Colouring sheet about surface water, crossword, word search 
 

Learn More about Wastewater Treatment

The following City webpages provide more information about wastewater treatment and conservation.

• Wastewater Treatment
• Water Conservation 
• The Unflushables

View the brochure below or download a PDF version here.

Your tour guide will walk you through the steps required to treat our tap water. 

• Find out where our water is sourced.
• Learn about the history of the facility and why it's important to process our drinking water.
• Hear about the importance of water conservation. Every drop counts! The volume of water pumped from the Okanagan Lake Pump Station and Penticton Creek is continuously monitored by flow meters at the treatment plant. The City is focused on ongoing initiatives to conserve this natural resource, including times of restricted water use.

The Facts

• The latest technologies are used to make sure our water is safe and clean.
• Find out where our water comes from (Penticton Creek and Okanagan Lake) and why it’s important to process it. 
• The need for this facility was identified during the 1980s following several Giardiasis outbreaks throughout the community.
• This plant treats 7 billion litres of water each year, which would fill around 2,500 Olympic-size pools.
• Did you know there is less water available per person in the Okanagan than anywhere else in Canada? Also, the Okanagan has one of the highest rates of water use per person in Canada.

Location 

The Water Treatment Plant is located at 1900 Penticton Avenue, Penticton.

Tour Details 

Tours are offered to community groups or schools upon request and are booked on a first-come, first serve basis, with limited space available during certain times. The tours are about 1 hour in length and the ideal group is fewer than 15-20 people. Please be prepared to climb stairs and beware the facility is not wheelchair-accessible. All participants should wear closed-toe shoes and no heels. This tour is best suited to students older than Grade 5, for safety reasons, and is ideal for high school or college groups. 

Book Your Tour

Phone: 250-490-2560
Email: wtp@penticton.ca

The City is in the process of creating fact sheets to provide to tour groups (stay tuned for updates). The following educational materials are available from the Okanagan Basin Water Board: 

•    Our Relationship with Water in the Okanagan (school curriculum guide)
•    Posters for classrooms: Okanagan Basin Waterscape poster & Choose Your Watershed poster 
•    Handouts for kids: Colouring sheet about surface water, crossword, word search 

Learn More about Water Treatment

The following City webpages provide more information about water treatment and conservation. 

• Water Treatment Process 
• Water Conservation 

Email madison.poultney@penticton.ca 

Book your facility tour: 

• Wastewater Treatment Plant: Phone 250-490-2550 or email joel.mertz@penticton.ca
• Water Treatment Plant: Phone 250-490-2560 or email wtp@penticton.ca

Book a recycling presentation:

• Recycling: Email madison.poultney@penticton.ca