French Creek Pollution Control Centre: Expansion and Odour Control Upgrades

French Creek Pollution Control Centre (FCPCC) treats wastewater from about 29,000 people and businesses. It serves the communities of: Qualicum Beach, Parksville, French Creek, Pacific Shores, Surfside, and Barclay Crescent. FCPCC also treats trucked waste from homes with septic systems and holding tanks. FCPCC currently provides Secondary Treatment which is the provincial and federal requirement.

The RDN is developing an expansion and odour upgrade to:

  • increase plant capacity by about 30% and meet the service area demands to 2040,
  • improve operational efficiency and replace aging infrastructure in the existing plant,
  • incorporate extensive odour control upgrades for the existing plant,
  • include odour controls for the expansion, and
  • contribute to carbon neutrality by using solar panels and recovering heat from treated effluent.

How you can get involved

To stay informed of project updates, please:

  • "Register" and "subscribe" using the tabs on the right-hand side of the page. By doing so you will receive occasional emails with project updates.
  • Review the background documents. Content will be added as the project progresses.
  • Explore this webpage to find out more.

To report an odour

If you detect odours coming from FCPCC, you can report it directly to plant staff by calling:

  • 250-248-5794 during business hours or
  • 1-800-862-3429 after hours.

All odour reports are recorded and investigated. We encourage you to make your report as soon as you can so we can accurately investigate the cause (and sometimes relieve the odour).

French Creek Pollution Control Centre (FCPCC) treats wastewater from about 29,000 people and businesses. It serves the communities of: Qualicum Beach, Parksville, French Creek, Pacific Shores, Surfside, and Barclay Crescent. FCPCC also treats trucked waste from homes with septic systems and holding tanks. FCPCC currently provides Secondary Treatment which is the provincial and federal requirement.

The RDN is developing an expansion and odour upgrade to:

  • increase plant capacity by about 30% and meet the service area demands to 2040,
  • improve operational efficiency and replace aging infrastructure in the existing plant,
  • incorporate extensive odour control upgrades for the existing plant,
  • include odour controls for the expansion, and
  • contribute to carbon neutrality by using solar panels and recovering heat from treated effluent.

How you can get involved

To stay informed of project updates, please:

  • "Register" and "subscribe" using the tabs on the right-hand side of the page. By doing so you will receive occasional emails with project updates.
  • Review the background documents. Content will be added as the project progresses.
  • Explore this webpage to find out more.

To report an odour

If you detect odours coming from FCPCC, you can report it directly to plant staff by calling:

  • 250-248-5794 during business hours or
  • 1-800-862-3429 after hours.

All odour reports are recorded and investigated. We encourage you to make your report as soon as you can so we can accurately investigate the cause (and sometimes relieve the odour).

  • Opportunities to Learn More - Office Hours and Open House

    Want to learn more about this project?

    Drop in to one of our office hours at Oceanside Place or join us for our Open House at the French Creek Pollution Control Centre.

    Office Hours:

    Oceanside Place in the Meeting Room (upstairs)
    830 Island Highway West, Parksville

    Tuesday, May 14, 2019
    10:00 – 12:00

    Thursday, May 23, 2019
    2:00 – 4:00

    Tuesday, May 28, 2019
    10:00 – 12:00

    Thursday, June 6, 2019
    2:00 – 4:00

    Open House:

    French Creek Pollution Control Centre
    957 Lee Road, Parksville

    Saturday, June 8, 2019
    10:00 – 12:00

    Tours of the plant will be available

  • March 27, 2019 - Public Information Session

    For more information on this project, please attend our Public Information Session:

    Wednesday, March 27, 2019
    4PM – 6PM
    Oceanside Place - Multipurpose Room (Upstairs)
    830 Island Highway West, Parksville

  • VIU to Monitor Odours at FCPCC

    The RDN has partnered with the VIU Applied Environmental Research Laboratories to implement a state of the art odour monitoring program to fingerprint French Creek Pollution Control Centre’s current odour emissions.

    This monitoring program will:

    • Use mobile mass spectrometry instrumentation to analyze molecular fingerprints associated with specific odour-producing substances
    • Map chemical concentrations of a set of target compound classes including reduced sulfur compounds, amines, hydrocarbons and volatile fatty acids. Mapping will be done both at the French Creek Pollution Control Centre and in the surrounding neighborhood
    • Analyse the odourants associated with human activities and natural sources including wastewater treatment, green waste production, agriculture, as well as natural marine and freshwater sources
    • Assess the seasonal variability in odour sources and regional distributions
    • Recommend potential odour control measures.

    The proposed monitoring program will start in March 2019 and run for a year with multi-day sampling campaigns in spring, summer, fall and winter. Program results will inform the design of the upgrades and produce recommendations to improve air quality, reduce odour complaints related to FCPCC, and enhance the overall quality of life for neighbouring residents and visitors.

  • Contract for Detailed Design, Tendering and Construction Services Awarded

    At the Regular Board Meeting on July 24, 2018, the RDN Board awarded the Engineering Services contract for the detailed design, tendering and construction services for the French Creek Pollution Control Centre Stage 4 Expansion Project and Odour Control Upgrades to AECOM for $2,506,980.

  • Peer Review Exercise will Optimize Plant Design and Performance

    Preliminary design of the FCPCC Expansion and Odour Updgrade Project was completed in 2018. A peer review of the preliminary design will optimize the detailed design phase, going on now, so the constructed plant performs well and operates efficiently.

  • Secondary Treatment Process Selected


    Process selection was completed in 2011 and recommended that the expansion provide secondary treatment with activated sludge technology. Preliminary design, completed in 2018, recommended that activated sludge be provided using Combined Treatment Units where bioreactors are on the outside of the unit and secondary clarifiers on the inside of the unit.

Page last updated: 08 Oct 2025, 02:02 PM