Liquid Waste Management Plan Amendment
The Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) is the Regional District of Nanaimo's (RDN's) long-range plan to manage wastewater. The LMWP gives the RDN authority to determine community-driven solutions to wastewater management goals. The RDN Board endorsed the 2023 Liquid Waste Management Plan Amendment at the November 28, 2023 Regular Board Meeting.
The plan has been sent to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy to request approval. Thank you to everyone who participated in this process.
A revision to the LWMP to account for increased costs from the French Creek Pollution Control Centre Expansion and Odour Control Upgrade Project was completed in 2025. In March 2025, the RDN sent letter to the Minister of Environment and Parks with a request to approve a revised version of the LWMP Amendment that has an updated Financial Planning section (Section 2.6).
In 2026, a revision to the LWMP to account for increased costs from the Departure Bay Pump Station and Forcemain Expansion Project is in progress. More details to come later in 2026.
Read the What We Heard Engagement Summary, browse the FAQs, and review information under the Resources heading to see how we got here.
Ask us a question about liquid waste management or the LWMP.
We'll do our best to answer any questions you have and share the answers for all to see.
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Introduction to the RDN Liquid Waste Management Plan, what it covers, and the RDN's approach to seek feedback from the public for an amendment.
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Recorded presentation of the first virtual information session in the Liquid Waste Management Plan Amendment series. This video introduces some of terms we will use during the next information sessions.
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RDN LWMP Amendment – Revised 2025 Version (4.62 MB) (pdf)
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RDN LWMP Amendment 2023 (5 MB) (pdf)
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What We Heard Engagement Summary for the Liquid Waste Management Plan Amendment.pdf (12.4 MB) (pdf)
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Introduction to Wastewater Services and the LWMP Amendment (1.7 MB) (pdf)
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Factsheets
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Factsheet 1: Wastewater Infrastructure (1.81 MB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 2: Biosolids Management (960 KB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 3: Water Protection (553 KB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 4: Education and Outreach (693 KB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 5: Administrative Tasks (779 KB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 6: Financial Planning (V2 Correction) (2.05 MB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 6: Financial Planning (Version 2) (2.05 MB) (pdf)
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Factsheet 6: Financial Planning (Original) (2.37 MB) (pdf)
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Discussion Papers
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Liquid Waste Management Plan (2014) (4.38 MB) (pdf)
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Summary of Commitments (377 KB) (pdf)
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Liquid Waste Management Plan Annual Report (2022) (662 KB) (pdf)
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Zoom 101 (172 KB) (pdf)
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Wastewater Treatment
- What is liquid waste?
- What are some common ways to measure the quality of wastewater?
- What are primary and secondary treatment and what kind of water quality do they achieve?
- What levels of treatment do the RDN wastewater treatment facilities provide?
- Are municipal wastewater treatment plants required to provide secondary treatment?
- Are municipal wastewater treatment plants required to disinfect treated wastewater?
- What can be done to reduce the amount of waste discharged to the ocean?
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Liquid Waste Management Plan (General)
- Why do we need a Liquid Waste Management Plan?
- Why is the Liquid Waste Management Plan being amended?
- What are the ten programs of the current Liquid Waste Management Plan?
- What are some changes proposed for the LWMP Amendment?
- Does the LWMP Amendment include plans to expand sewer into areas that currently use septic systems?
- Which residents are responsible for funding the upgrades?
- Does the RDN apply for provincial and federal grants to reduce the financial burden on taxpayers?
- How could the RDN pay for emergency works in service areas with insufficient funds?
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LWMP for the Nanoose Bay Service Area
- I live in an area of Nanoose Bay that is serviced by septic systems. What does the LWMP Amendment mean for me?
- What is the federal regulatory requirement for the RDN to provide secondary treatment at NPBCC?
- Why is the timeline for the secondary treatment upgrade moving to 2040?
- How can the Nanoose Bay Pollution Control Centre secondary treatment timeline be upgraded sooner to mitigate environmental impacts?
- What is the existing capacity of the Nanoose Bay Pollution Control Centre?
- Is the condition of the NBPCC facility good enough to last until we upgrade the plant in 2040 as part of the Secondary Treatment Upgrade Project?
- If the NBPCC sewer interceptor and pump stations were originally installed with poor quality, how can we be confident the same problem won’t happen again when they are repaired?
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LWMP for the French Creek Pollution Control Centre Service Area
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LWMP for the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre Service Area
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Manager of Wastewater Services
Email bwoods@rdn.bc.ca