A program that turns treated sewage waste into a marketable product is under review, but the facility isn鈥檛 moving.

One issue that won鈥檛 likely be considered is the future of the Commonage compost plan as the cities of Vernon and 琉璃神社 are initiating a strategic review of the waste water solids program.

鈥淭he investment made in the Commonage facility is significant and to walk away from that investment would be difficult,鈥� said Tim Phelan, with Opus International, which is consulting on the process.

Over the years, some nearby residents have expressed concerns about the odour from the plant.

鈥淭here is a lot of residential there 鈥� Predator Ridge is expanding,鈥� said Brian Quiring, a Vernon councillor.

However, Coun. Scott Anderson says the complaints are generated by three to five people.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking about a widespread problem,鈥� he said.

Currently, the region鈥檚 28,000 wet tonnes of treated waste water solids are mixed with wood chips and composted at the biosolids compost facility to produce an organic soil product called OgoGrow.

Space limitations at the facility, wood chip supply challenges and the region鈥檚 increased production of waste water solids have created a need for the cities to consider new processing methods, new end-use options and potential new markets.

The cities are looking for community input to the waste water solids management planning process through stakeholder meetings and a survey that can be found at getinvolved.kelowna.ca

鈥淲e want to look at how we manage biosolids and process biosolids. We want to look at the costs, environmental impacts and social impacts,鈥� said Andrew Reeder, the City of 琉璃神社鈥檚 utility planning manager.

Phelan insists that public concerns about the odour will be addressed in the process.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the No. 1 evaluation criteria on the list,鈥� he said.

Public engagement is starting now and the survey will close May 12.