Wetlands are providing a wastewater treatment benefit in cold climates. Sampling protocols and predictive tools exist. Wetlands could be part of a hybridized wastewater treatment strategy in northern Canada.

1. Assessing the performance of cold climate natural
wetlands in the treatment of domestic wastewater
effluents in northern Canada
Gordon Balch‡, Brent Wootton‡, Colin Yates†, Sven Jørgensen¥ and Annie
Chouinard§
‡Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment, Fleming College, Lindsay †Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo
¥ Water Research Laboratories, ASP, Væløse, Denmark § Civil Engineering Queen’s University, Kingston

2. Focus
• Wetlands are providing a treatment
benefit
• Assessment tools are available
• Wetlands could be part of a
hybridized wastewater treatment
strategy
2

3. Background
• CCME guidelines
• Present and future
challenges for lagoon
systems
• Tundra wetlands exist
downstream of lagoons
3
Pond Inlet – sewage
lagoon
Paulatuk– sewage lagoon

4. Question: do wetlands provide
treatment?
• Anecdotal evidence
• Answer hampered by
– Lack of knowledge
– Lack of standardized
testing
– Inability to predict
response to changing 4
Ulukhaktu
k

5. Wetland Surveys
i. Arctic Summer (inlet, outlet)
– Seasonal trend
– No pretreatment or pretreatment (facultative
lakes or lagoons)
– Lagoon decants / exfiltration
– Performance (BOD5, TAN, TSS, microbial,
etc.)
– Calibration of SubWet 2.0 rate coefficients for
Northern conditions

6. 6
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Influent Effluent
Arviat, NunavutBOD5mg-L
Sampling Dates

7. 7
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Influent Effluent
Coral Habour, Nunavut
TotalAmmoniaNitrogenmg-L
Sampling Dates

8. 8
Wetland Surveys
ii. Intensive Sampling
– Rapid, intensive testing (2-4 days)
– Sampling stations along transects
cBOD5 TKN TAN TSS

9. 9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%FSS %VSS
Sample Location
PercentComposition
Composition of Total Suspended Solids
Pond Inlet
0
50
100
150
200
Influent Efflluent
TSS

10. 10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%FSS %VSS
Sample Location
PercentComposition Composition of Total Suspended
Solids Ulukhaktok
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Influent effluent
TSS

11. Predictive tools – SubWet 2.0
11
• 16 rate coefficients
• 25 differential equations
• Easily obtained input parameters
• Ability to calibrate to site conditions
• Models BOD5, Ammonium, Organic Nitrogen, Nitrate
and Total Phosphorus
• Easy to use
• Available as free-ware
• Calibrated to 11 individual tundra treatment wetlands
Nunavut: Arviat, Coral Harbour, Gjoa Haven, Pond Inlet, Repulse Bay,
Whale Cove
NTW: Edzo, Fort Providence, Paulatuk, Taloyoak, Ulukhaktuk

12. % Derivation of Simulation from Measured
12
Nunavut NTW
BOD5 Ammonium Total
Phosphorus
BOD5 Ammonium Total
Phosphorus
Arviat 18 7 2 Edzo 8 15 9
Coral Harbour 5 14 8 Fort Providence 79 57 56
Gjoa Haven 2 3 12 Paulatuk 30 10 1
Pond Inlet 5 4 4 Taloyoak 15 2 9
Repusle Bay 5 4 4 Ulukhaktuk 5 16 11
Whale Cove 64 10 34
• Provides the lagoon operator the ability to forecast how the wetland will
respond
• Forecast future capacities and needs

13. 13
cawt.ca

14. 14
Coral Harbour
Northern Wastewater Strategy
Hybridized approach (lagoons + wetlands)

15. Concluding Remarks
• Wetlands do provide treatment benefit
• Sampling protocols and predictive tools
exist
• Consideration of a hybridized approach
should be considered
15

16. Concluding Remarks
• Demand for decentralized treatment likely to
increase
• Demand for specialized treatment to off-load
burden to centralized systems may increase
• May see greater need for advanced
treatment systems for Nitrate and
Phosphorous in relationship to source water
protection
16
Acknowledgements