There is an old pipeline you may encounter when hiking the trails around Buntzen Lake. The most common areas to see it are near the pumphouse and on the way up the Diez Vistas Trail.
The Buntzen Lake Pumphouse (shown below) pumps freshwater from Buntzen Lake to the Burrard Thermal Generating Station, 6 km south of Buntzen Lake (Seen next below)…
The old pipeline, which had a diameter of 20 cm (8 inches) , was replaced with a larger 12-inch underground pipeline. The Burrard Thermal Generating Station, which has been in operation since the early 1960s and is slated to be closed in 2016, uses the water for boiler make-up, fire protection, domestic (potable) use and other plant cooling services. Below are a couple views of the old pipeline…
Below is a view of the old pipeline (nicely cut, so we don’t have to do the limbo) as seen on the trail up to Diez Vistas…
While exploring around I found this interesting apparatus on the pipeline…
Near the pumphouse, the old pipeline exits a 30 inch diameter pipe of 25 m in length as seen below. This may have been for backflow prevention, but that’s just a guess.
Below is a neat detail look at the coupling clamps on the pipeline…
