Abstract
The consistent performance of wastewater treatment in the far north of Canada, in general, remains an elusive objective, and a frustration for engineers, communities, senior governments, and regulators. Lagoon systems suffer from performance inconsistencies, and a significant scientific effort has been underway by the Government of Nunavut to study and predict the performance of lagoon systems. It has been pointed out that those systems which are technologically simple, and engineered for sufficient capacity tend to perform well, however lagoon systems are ultimately at the mercy of the natural environment, which is extreme in the far north. Mechanical systems do offer the opportunity to reduce the influence of the natural environment, however a multitude of other factors affect the design, construction, operation and maintenance of mechanical systems in the far north. As an opportunity to mitigate the challenges associated with mechanical wastewater systems, a synopsis of the community mechanical treatment facilities in the north has been compiled. Lessons learned from the challenges with mechanical wastewater systems in the far north have been catalogued as a legacy document to future project stakeholders. This compilation is a first attempt to provide a documentation to serve as a reference for improving the development, execution, and operation of future mechanical wastewater treatment projects, where this technical option is deemed appropriate.
Highlights
New regulatory requirements for wastewater have been established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment and the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations
The transition from the “honey bucket”, a bagged collection of wastewater, to pressured water systems has meant that the management of community sewage has changed in principle, from a solid waste to a liquid waste, which is generated in relatively large volumes
The consistent performance of wastewater treatment in the far north of Canada, in general, remains an elusive objective and a frustration for engineers, communities, senior governments and regulators associated with leaking of the berms are becoming significant issues because the facilities are designed for retention with seasonal discharge, and the earth structures are not meeting this requirement
Summary
The transition from the “honey bucket”, a bagged collection of wastewater, to pressured water systems has meant that the management of community sewage has changed in principle, from a solid waste to a liquid waste, which is generated in relatively large volumes To cope with these large volumes of liquid waste, most northern communities use pond systems to detain or retain the volume prior to discharge. The consistent performance of wastewater treatment in the far north of Canada, in general, remains an elusive objective and a frustration for engineers, communities, senior governments and regulators associated with leaking of the berms are becoming significant issues because the facilities are designed for retention with seasonal discharge, and the earth structures are not meeting this requirement. Remedial work on a sewage lagoon may cost upward of 1⁄2 the original cost of the lagoon system [4]
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