Cranbrook's lead engineer has been recognized by his peers with an award for the city's wastewater upgrades.
Jamie Hodge accepted the 2012 Sustainability Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. during its annual conference October 25 to 27 in Victoria.
The award from Hodge's peers recognizes the upgrades to Cranbrook's wastewater treatment system since 2008. The project upgrades nearly every component of the city's wastewater and spray irrigation system, originally constructed in the 1970s.
Cranbrook's sewage is filtered at lagoons on the outskirts of the city, then piped to farming fields in Mayook. There the effluent is treated and applied to pastures and crops used by local ranchers.
It's the second award Cranbrook has received for its upgrades to the system. In February, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities honoured the city with its Sustainable Communities Award for Water.
"It's the crowning achievement. In four years, I don't think I've had such a wonderful award," said Hodge.
When the second phase of the upgrades is complete, Cranbrook's wastewater system will exceed new federal requirements announced earlier this year, which have sent many other municipalities across the country scrambling.
"This is the second award the project has received. Jamie is well deserving of it. He has poured his heart into trying to make this a better system over the past couple of years," said Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Stetski. "It's important the system be sustainable and that the good work our staff do on it gets recognized."