Walfred Road Reservoir Valve Upgrade

2022-2023 | Victoria, BC

During the ongoing operations and maintenance of the Walfred Reservoir, the Capital Regional District (CRD) identified several isolation and interconnection valves that weren’t seating properly and were leaking. These poorly functioning valves kept the CRD from completely isolating sections of the reservoir (called “cells”) from one another. Not only did this make routine maintenance impossible, but it also compromised redundancy; if one cell was damaged or contaminated, CRD needed to be able to isolate it from the others to allow uncompromised water supply operation.

The Walfred Reservoir is surrounded by about 540 residential lots. Facilitating this reservoir valve upgrade project required a plan to maintain fire and domestic service to these surrounding residents during the replacement process.

In 2022, McElhanney was engaged to design and implement system improvements to permit the Walfred Reservoir to be taken offline while maintaining fire and domestic service to the area residents. With those system improvements in place, McElhanney proceeded with design, procurement, and construction administration services to replace the Walfred Reservoir valves.

Unique challenges included ensuring seismic protection remained for the valves after replacement, limited site access, and a finite schedule to maintain adequate water supply.

McElhanney provided: