Wastewater Treatment Issues for Small Communities: Implications for Onsite Wastewater Management

Axel Meisen, C.M., P.Eng. FCAE Vicki Lightbown, P.Eng Consultant & Project Specialist, Environmental Management President – Canadian Commission for UNESCO Innovates – Energy and Environment Solutions

Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association Trade Show and Convention , Alberta March 6, 2014 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.

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. 2 Technology Scouting System (TSS)

What external resources does the WANT organization WANT to obtain, e.g., ideas, expertise, human resource skills, funding?

FIND responses to satisfy the WANT, FIND including retrospective and prospective insights

GET the necessary resources and GET agreements to meet the requirements of the FIND

MANAGE MANAGE the resulting project 3 Project Topic Wastewater Treatment Technologies and Management Systems for Small Rural Communities in Alberta

Typical example: of , AB Population ~140; M$1.1 in 2012 for lagoon upgrading 4 WANT Definition of ‘Small Community‘: ● Up to 300 people, excluding single homes, but including clusters ● Rural location in AB Technologies & management Current and potential systems Funding sources & investors Current and potential Regulations Current and drivers for change Commercialization potential ~300 communities in Alberta Purpose of Project for: - Alberta ● Environmental quality ● Improving Wastewater Treatment ● Financial benefits

- AI-EES ● Guidance for investment decisions

Resources and & requirements Project Team; 3 months (pt) 5 FIND Current and Retrospective TS Technologies Scientific Wastewater treatment in small rural communities basis 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

6 Lagoon Wastewater Treatment (Based on GoA Standards and Guidelines) Emergency Effluent 2 or 4 anaerobic cells in series Outfall each with 2 days holding capacity. Operating depth 3.0 to 3.5 m

60 day holding capacity facultative cell. Max operating Influent depth 1.5 m

Emergency Bypass 12 month capacity storage cell based on average daily design flow. Max operating depth 3 m

7 Wastewater Lagoons in Alberta

Arrowwood, AB (Pop. ~200) , AB (Pop. ~200) The expansion to existing The construction of aerated lagoons cost k$821 lagoons cost M$2.6

8 Mechanical Wastewater Treatment (Based on Environment Literature)

Preliminary Primary Secondary Disinfection treatment treatment treatment

Scum & Screen- Grit Aerobic Dis- sludge ing removal processes infection removal

Screen- Grit Scum Primary ings sludge Secondary sludge Influent Effluent

9 Wastewater Treatment: Centralized

Centralized Wastewater Treatment Facility • Preliminary • Primary • Secondary • (Disinfection)

10 Wastewater Treatment: Hybrid (Suitable for Clusters)

Local, Small WWT Facility • Preliminary • Primary • Secondary • (Disinfection)

Septic (interceptor) tank providing some treatment 11 Alberta Cluster Examples

Location Homes Interceptor Secondary Disinfection Discharge # Tank Treatment Habitat Acres 29 4,500 L Orenco None Soil dispersal AdvanTex 3’ below surface Silverhorn Dev. 87 YES Orenco None Pressure Rocky View AdvanTex distribution into back-filled trench Country Lakes 15 YES Unknown Ultra violet Continuous Leduc 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 Criteria (from Canada-wide Strategy for the Management Capabilities 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

13 FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems Current and Retrospective TS Community Population Project Grant, k$ Cost, k$ 27 Sites, Acadia Valley 137 Lagoon expansion 344 459 Alliance 174 Lagoon upgrade 473 631 2 years Arrowwood 188 Lagoon upgrade 616 821 175 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 727 969 165 Lagoon upgrade 284 379 Faust 275 Lagoon upgrade 2,073 2,764 Fawcett 73 Lagoon upgrade 100 133 Jarvie 113 Lagoon upgrade 292 389 181 Lagoon 3,668 4,891 46 Mechanical Upgrade 420 560 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 1,935 270 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 14 Total 4,344 19,614 26,152 FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems Current and Retrospective TS Technologies Operational • Operations and maintenance (O&M) issues • Availability of technical personnel

15 FIND for Lagoons & Mechanical Systems Current and Retrospective TS Technologies Operational • Sludge disposal issues • Leaking liners • Discharge into surface waters

16 FIND - Discharge from Interceptor Tanks Current and Retrospective TS Technologies Operational • Discharge into soils issues

17 FIND Prospective TS Drivers for change Regulations in technology • Implementation of the Canada-wide Strategy for sector and their the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent interactions 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 Financial Sustainability • High operating costs for many small communities, stimulating partnerships • Full-cost accounting • Aging infrastructure

18 FIND Prospective TS Drivers for change Demographics in technology • Population decline in many small Alberta sector and their communities interactions • Special provisions needed for communities <250 and declining at >10% p.a. 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’

19 FIND Prospective TS Insights into Technologies are mature, causing changes to be characteristics of incremental and resulting in better and more cost- technological effective performance changes

Richard Krygier (CFS / NRCan) • • Whitecourt • Beaverlodge

Willows for dewatering lagoons and bio- energy production (Jönköping, Sweden)

20 FIND Prospective TS Characterization of • Alberta: For 18 months ending Feb 2012, Alberta potential future Municipal Water / Wastewater Partnership: M$98; Alberta, Canadian plus M$66 from Alberta Municipal Sustainability and global markets 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

21 FIND Prospective TS Technology, • High CAPEX: Requirement for small communities market and to raise 25% of capital funds community • High OPEX: Most small communities are barriers challenged to meet O&M costs

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System 22 FIND Prospective TS Technology, • Community acceptance: Location of new and market and expanded plants (especially lagoons) is often community resisted by more affluent communities barriers

23 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

24 Conclusions

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 25 Conclusions

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

26 Conclusions for Onsite Systems

• 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

CAPEX <$6,000 per person

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