COQUITLAM, B.C., May 21, 2024 – When you pour a glass of water, flush the toilet or drive down a freshly ploughed street, do you think about who made it possible?
During National Public Works Week, May 19 to 25, Coquitlam celebrates the public works professionals who provide essential services to the City and its residents. To support a safe, growing community, they operate and maintain roads and sidewalks, water and sewers, garbage and organics collection, flood protection and more.
Public works professionals work behind the scenes to advance quality of life and keep homes, businesses and the City functioning. Based on the City’s Community Satisfaction survey, 94 per cent of Coquitlam residents rate their quality of life as good or very good. This year’s National Public Works Week theme is Advancing Quality of Life, highlighting the important role Public Works plays in creating great places to live, learn, work and play.
Maintaining City Services
Public Works impacts our lives every day – whenever we rely on a street sign, move around the City, enjoy litter-free public spaces, have our garbage or organics picked up, take a shower or run the dishwasher.
The Public Works division is responsible for operations and maintenance of:
- Drinking water systems – including reservoir cleaning, annual watermain flushing fire hydrants and water supply for fire protection
- Drainage and sanitary sewer systems – including environmental and flood protection
- Solid waste services – including curbside pick-up of garbage and organics, large item pick-up and litter collection
- Roads, bridges, sidewalks, boulevards and street – including street sweeping and ploughing, pavement repairs, sign replacement and vegetation control
- Corporate fleet – including vehicles, fire trucks, equipment and a growing “ecofleet” of electric, hybrid and compact vehicles
The division also provides 24/7 emergency services for water, sewer, drainage and roads.
Public Works in Action
Statistics can help tell the story of the impact of Public Works. In 2023, the Public Works team:
- Handled 16,306 service requests and work orders
- Cleaned 90 km of watermains and 40 km of sanitary sewers
- Swept 4,962 km of roads
- Maintained 1,607 km of pipe and 64 pump stations
- Provided 370 litres of total water per capita each day
- Managed biweekly garbage and weekly organics pickup from over 25,000 homes
- Managed collection of over 8,400 items through the Large Item Pick-up Program
The City’s road, drainage and water systems stretch thousands of kilometres and contain a variety of elements that Public Works monitors and maintains, including:
- 1,142 lane km of asphalt and 596 km of sidewalk
- Over 574 km of storm water mains/culverts and 3.2 km of dike maintained by the City
- Over 522 km of water mains, 2,795 hydrants, 6,518 valves, 10 reservoirs, 1,197 institutional and commercial water meters, 11 water pump stations, 27,589 water service connections and 50 pressure-regulating chambers
For more information about Public Works, visit coquitlam.ca/PublicWorks.
Media contact:
Brad Lofgren
Director, Public Works
604-927-3500
epw@coquitlam.ca
We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (HUN-kuh-MEE-num) word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (kwee-KWET-lum) meaning “Red Fish Up the River”. The City is honoured to be located on the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm traditional and ancestral lands, including those parts that were historically shared with the q̓ic̓əy̓ (kat-zee), and other Coast Salish Peoples.