Water & Sewer

Water and Sewage System 

The City's water distribution and sewage collection/treatment systems service the City of Fernie. In addition, the City provides water distribution services to West Fernie.

Work is well underway to develop a Liquid Waste Management Plan and successfully completed a secondary water source project, James White Wells, to meet the City's water demands, water quality and sewage treatment requirements for future years.

For more information on water services, sanitary and storm sewers please follow the links below:

Water Quality (Turbidity)

The City of Fernie measures turbidity levels on an ongoing basis and publishes the Water Quality Ratings each day.

If you wish to receive automatic email updates on water quality please contact City Hall to register.

James White Park Wells - Secondary Water Source 

The City of Fernie experiences water quality issues each year- typically during spring freshet between April and June, which potentially results in the need for residents to boil their drinking water before its consumption. The City has two production wells installed within James White Park to provide safe drinking water quality throughout the year. The wells are intended to be used for approximately three months (April through June) during the freshet and potentially on other occasions if the main source water quality becomes low. While in operation the well’s water will be extracted at a rate not to exceed 200 liters per second.

The secondary source consists of two well houses in James White Park containing the new production wells, a well control facility located adjacent to the City of Fernie Main Sewage Lift Station in James White Park, and a new water main connecting the pumped water to the existing water system.

 Technical  Facts:

  • The Interior Health Authority (IHA) regulates the permitting of the construction and operation of drinking water systems in the Southern Interior of BC
  • IHA stipulates that safe drinking water, after treatment and disinfection, should normally produce a minimum chlorine residual of 0.2 mg/L
  • Health Canada reports no harmful health effects in people who drink water with large concentrations (50 mg/L) of chlorine over short periods of time
  • The concentration of residual chlorine in Fernie’s drinking water system, when using the Fairy Creek source ranges from 0.2 mg/L to 0.4 mg/L
  • The concentration of residual chlorine in Fernie’s drinking water system, when using the James White Wells source ranges from 0.8 mg/L to 1.0 mg/L

If you’re interested in additional information on our water system, please contact us through the Request for Service

James White Wells FAQ's