Updated with correction

Teck’s new water treatment facility has posted significant reductions in selenium and nitrate levels in the Elk River Valley watershed in British Columbia at a greatly reduced cost, the company announced this month.

The saturated rock fill (SRF) facility is the product of seven years of research and development and is a collaboration between Teck’s water quality experts, several consulting companies, geoscientists and two universities. The result is a technology that the company says has the potential to replace traditional water treatment systems.

“SRFs have the potential to augment or replace traditional active water treatment technology at approximately one-sixth the capital cost and half the ongoing operating cost,” Teck spokesman Chris Stannell said over email. “Additionally, results to date suggest the system is more robust in its ability to manage changes in water chemistry while being easier to operate than a traditional active water treatment facility.”

According to Teck, the SRF facility located at its Elkview steelmaking coal operation, is capable of removing over 95 per cent of selenium and nitrate in the 10 million litres of water it processes per day. The facility was commissioned in January and cost $41 million to construct.

In 2013, Teck began a $600-million undertaking in preserving water quality in the Elk River Valley after it was discovered that high concentrations of selenium in the local watershed were affecting local aquatic life. Christened the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan (EVWQP), some of the measures include three water treatment facilities – a West Line Creek facility constructed in 2016 in addition to Fording River and Elkview plants planned for 2019 and 2020 respectively – as well as more than 20 research and development projects, according to the company.

Related: The science behind selenium in the environment is young but for miners managing it, the element is an immediate concern

Last year, a research project between Teck and University of British Columbia professor Sue Baldwin to reduce selenium by using microbes in water treatment received a total of $400,000 from the company and Genome BC.

Selenium is a naturally occurring metalloid found in soil, rocks and other mineral deposits. In low amounts, selenium is considered an essential nutrient for human and animal life, but high concentrations can have unfortunate side-effects.

Currently, the SRF is designed to only treat selenium and nitrate. If the facility continues to show positive results, the company will work towards a “broader implementation of the technology,” said Stannell.

Even with the introduction of the SRF, Stannell says that Teck is still devoted to continuing to improve water quality in the region.

“The objectives of the EVWQP remain the same,” Stannell said. “SRFs have the potential to help in achieving those objectives, and is a great example of our ongoing research [and] development program to identity new and potentially better ways to maintain water quality in the region.”