The multimillion-dollar facility in northeastern British Columbia will "provide a new source of revenue for the city of Dawson Creek as well as additional water for industrial and municipal users," Shell said in a statement.

Dawson Creek, 1,200 kilometers (740 miles) from Vancouver, is at the center of British Columbia's natural gas and oil- producing fields. The plant will help meet "the water needs of all users" including residents and the municipality, with Europe's largest oil company piping its share of the water from the facility to its natural gas operations 48 kilometers west of Dawson Creek.

PetroChina Co., China's biggest oil producer, said Feb. 2 that it bought a 20 percent stake in Shell's Groundbirch shale- gas project. No terms were disclosed by the companies.

With a capacity of 4,000 cubic meters a day, or enough water for at least 12,000 Canadian households, the plant will recycle sewage wastewater currently released into the Dawson Creek, The Hague-based company said in the Sept. 7 statement.

"Water is a limited resource and we need to use it carefully and responsibly," Dawson Creek Mayor Mike Bernier said. "This facility allows us to do that."

The British Columbia government "applauds the work and commitment that has resulted in this fine facility, which is a model we hope other industry players and local governments will strive to replicate," Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman said in the statement.