Axel Meisen, C.M., P.Eng. FCAE

Consultant &

President – Canadian Commission for UNESCO

Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association Trade Show and Convention

Calgary, Alberta March 6, 2014

Wastewater Treatment Issues for Small Communities:

Implications for Onsite Wastewater Management

Vicki Lightbown, P.Eng

Project Specialist, Environmental Management

Alberta Innovates – Energy and Environment Solutions

Disclaimer The contents of this presentation resulted, in part, from

a recent Technology Scouting project conducted at AI-

EES. They do not represent policies, positions or

commitments of the Government of Alberta or AI-EES.

Acknowledgements Certain images in this presentation were taken from

publicly available websites, with their use being

restricted to this presentation.

Some of the data contained in this presentation were

provided by Bijan Aidun (AESRD), Alf Durnie (AB

Municipal Affairs) and Ken Johnson (Stantec). They

are gratefully acknowledged.

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Technology Scouting System (TSS)

WANT

FIND

GET

MANAGE

What external resources does the

organization WANT to obtain, e.g., ideas,

expertise, human resource skills, funding?

FIND responses to satisfy the WANT,

including retrospective and prospective

insights

GET the necessary resources and

agreements to meet the requirements of

the FIND

MANAGE the resulting project

3

Project Topic

Wastewater Treatment Technologies

and Management Systems for

Small Rural Communities in Alberta

Typical example: Hamlet of Acadia Valley, AB

Population ~140; M$1.1 in 2012 for lagoon upgrading 4

Definition of ‘Small Community‘: ● Up to 300 people, excluding

single homes, but including

clusters

● Rural location in AB

Technologies & management

systems

Current and potential

Funding sources & investors Current and potential

Regulations Current and drivers for change

Commercialization potential ~300 communities in Alberta

Purpose of Project for:

- Alberta

- AI-EES

● Environmental quality

● Improving Wastewater Treatment

● Financial benefits

● Guidance for investment decisions

Resources and & requirements Project Team; 3 months (pt)

WANT

5

FIND Current and Retrospective TS

Technologies

Scientific

basis

Wastewater treatment in small rural communities

involves up to 4 steps:

• Preliminary treatment (screening)

• Primary treatment (settling)

• Secondary treatment

• Residuals management

Steps are performed in ‘lagoon’ and ‘mechanical’

wastewater treatment systems

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Effluent

Influent

Emergency

Outfall

Emergency

Bypass 12 month capacity storage cell

based on average daily design flow.

Max operating depth 3 m

60 day holding

capacity facultative

cell. Max operating

depth 1.5 m

2 or 4 anaerobic cells in series

each with 2 days holding capacity.

Operating depth 3.0 to 3.5 m

Lagoon Wastewater Treatment (Based on GoA Standards and Guidelines)

7

Arrowwood, AB (Pop. ~200)

The expansion to existing

lagoons cost k$821

Wastewater Lagoons in Alberta

Nordegg, AB (Pop. ~200)

The construction of aerated

lagoons cost M$2.6

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Screen-

ing

Grit

removal

Scum &

sludge

removal

Aerobic

processes

Dis-

infection

Preliminary

treatment

Secondary

sludge

Primary

sludge Scum Grit

Screen-

ings

Influent Effluent

Primary

treatment

Secondary

treatment Disinfection

Mechanical Wastewater Treatment (Based on Environment Canada Literature)

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Wastewater Treatment: Centralized

Centralized Wastewater

Treatment Facility

• Preliminary

• Primary

• Secondary

• (Disinfection)

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Wastewater Treatment: Hybrid (Suitable for Clusters)

Local, Small WWT

Facility

• Preliminary

• Primary

• Secondary

• (Disinfection)

Septic (interceptor) tank providing

some treatment

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Alberta Cluster Examples

Location Homes Interceptor Secondary Disinfection Discharge

# Tank Treatment

Habitat Acres

Sherwood Park

29 4,500 L Orenco

AdvanTex

None Soil dispersal

3’ below surface

Silverhorn Dev.

Rocky View

87 YES Orenco

AdvanTex

None Pressure

distribution into

back-filled

trench

Country Lakes

Leduc

15 YES Unknown Ultra violet Continuous

wetland injection

• Rocky View, Lacombe, Clearwater and Leduc

counties own and operate cluster systems

• Foothills, Warner, Beaver and Yellowhead counties

allow cluster systems but do not take ownership

• Alberta Environment prefers county ownership 12

FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems

Current and Retrospective TS

Technologies

Required

Capabilities

Criteria (from Canada-wide Strategy for the Management

of Municipal Wastewater Effluent, 2009) for influent

>100 m3/d (Environment Canada Regulations, 2012):

• cBOD: 25 mg/L

• TSS: 25 mg/L

• Total Residual Cl: <0.02 mg/L

• Fecal coliform count: not stated

• Special compounds (P, N, Emerging

Substances of Concern): not stated

Canada has >3,500 wastewater treatment facilities

(of all sizes), many of which will require upgrading

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FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems

Current and Retrospective TS Community Population Project Grant, k$ Cost, k$ Acadia Valley 137 Lagoon expansion 344 459

Alliance 174 Lagoon upgrade 473 631

Arrowwood 188 Lagoon upgrade 616 821

Benalto 175 Mechanical Upgrade 420 560

Busby 98 Lagoon expansion and upgrade 1,703 2,271

Caley 265 Lagoon upgrade 400 533

Cereal 134 Mechanical plant 150 200

DeBolt 133 Mechanical Upgrade 663 884

Dewberry 201 Lagoon upgrade 667 889

Empress 188 Mechanical - new 727 969

Enilda 165 Lagoon upgrade 284 379

Faust 275 Lagoon upgrade 2,073 2,764

Fawcett 73 Lagoon upgrade 100 133

Jarvie 113 Lagoon upgrade 292 389

Joussard 181 Lagoon 3,668 4,891

Lousana 46 Mechanical Upgrade 420 560

Marie Reine 67 Lagoon upgrade 384 512

Patricia 108 Lagoon upgrade 925 1,233

Pibrock 83 Lagoon upgrade 100 133

Picardville 220 Lagoon upgrade 100 133

Rolling Hills 205 Lagoon upgrade 1,090 1,453

Scandia 154 Mechanical Upgrade 1,451 1,935

Seven Persons 270 Lagoon upgrade 1,402 1,869

Swalwell 101 Lagoon upgrade 451 601

Vilna 249 Mechanical Upgrade 239 319

Villeneuve 136 Lagoon upgrade 372 496

Vimy 205 Lagoon upgrade 100 133

Total 4,344 19,614 26,152

27 Sites,

2 years

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FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems

Current and Retrospective TS

Technologies

Operational

issues

• Operations and maintenance (O&M)

• Availability of technical personnel

15

FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems

Current and Retrospective TS

Technologies

Operational

issues

• Sludge disposal

• Leaking liners

• Discharge into surface waters

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FIND - Discharge from Interceptor Tanks

Current and Retrospective TS

Technologies

Operational

issues

• Discharge into soils

17 17

Drivers for change

in technology

sector and their

interactions

Regulations

• Implementation of the Canada-wide Strategy for

the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent

over 20 to 30 years (from 2009), resulting in B$10

to B$13 capital expenditures for new and

upgraded wastewater treatment plants; >50% to

be spent by 2019

• Special regulations for Canadian North (>60o) are

expected in Feb 2014

• Sludge and bio-solids management

FIND

Prospective TS

Financial Sustainability

• High operating costs for many small

communities, stimulating partnerships

• Full-cost accounting

• Aging infrastructure

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Drivers for change

in technology

sector and their

interactions

Demographics

• Population decline in many small Alberta

communities

• Special provisions needed for communities <250

and declining at >10% p.a.

FIND

Prospective TS

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Public Health and Environmental Concerns

• Compliance assurance

• Reduced water use and increased use of treated

water

• Availability of land for treatment facilities

• Public’s acceptance of nearby treatment facilities

• ‘Emerging Substances of Concern’

Insights into

characteristics of

technological

changes

Technologies are mature, causing changes to be

incremental and resulting in better and more cost-

effective performance

FIND

Prospective TS

Richard Krygier

(CFS / NRCan)

• Ohaton

• Whitecourt

• Beaverlodge

Willows for dewatering lagoons and bio-

energy production (Jönköping, Sweden)

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Characterization of

potential future

Alberta, Canadian

and global markets

• Alberta: For 18 months ending Feb 2012, Alberta

Municipal Water / Wastewater Partnership: M$98;

plus M$66 from Alberta Municipal Sustainability

Initiative; GoC provided Alberta with an

additional M$44

• Canada: CAPEX will be ~B$6 for all wastewater

treatment facilities by 2019

• Canadian North (>60o): Market estimates are

unavailable till February 2014 report released.

This is a special market in which Alberta could

strengthen its presence

• Canadian aboriginal communities and GoC

installations: M$225 to be expended over next 20

years

• Global markets: Unknown, but likely many times

larger than the Canadian market

FIND

Prospective TS

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Technology,

market and

community

barriers

• High CAPEX: Requirement for small communities

to raise 25% of capital funds

FIND

Prospective TS

• High OPEX: Most small communities are

challenged to meet O&M costs

Supervisory Control

and Data Acquisition

System

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Technology,

market and

community

barriers

• Community acceptance: Location of new and

expanded plants (especially lagoons) is often

resisted by more affluent communities

FIND

Prospective TS

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Conclusions

Regulations

• Government funding of capital expenditures

mainly for best practicable technologies (lagoons

and mechanical)

Technological Advances

• New technologies impeded by cost and reliability

• Incremental improvements in existing technologies

• Promising related areas: wastewater volume

reduction, bio-solids/sludge processing, (remote)

monitoring and control systems

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Market

• Strong for new and upgraded wastewater

treatment facilities due to 2009 regulations

• High CAPEX (>$6,000 per capita) is a problem for

small communities, but significantly offset by

government support

• Small communities favour technologies with low

OPEX since there is no government support

Investments and Partnerships

• Few opportunities for private investment

• Private-public partnerships (P3s) can reduce costs,

especially when servicing several communities

Conclusions

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Unexpected Results:

• Wastewater treatment in remote work camps

and seasonal facilities, many of which have

‘populations’ greater than 300

• Decommissioning and reclamation of lagoons

that are no longer needed

Conclusions

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• Onsite wastewater treatments systems should

strive to be covered by government investment

strategies

• Wastewater discharges from larger onsite

treatment systems into soils needs to be

addressed, especially for cold climates

Conclusions for Onsite Systems

CAPEX <$6,000 per person

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