This document discusses various methods for controlling water pollution from sewage and organic wastes, both upstream and downstream. Upstream methods include modifying industrial processes to eliminate pollutants, controlling stormwater runoff, and establishing laws and regulations. Downstream, small-scale options include composting toilets, outhouses, and septic systems, while large-scale options involve primary, secondary, and tertiary sewage treatment through mechanical, chemical, and biological processes. The document also outlines water pollution legislation at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels in Canada.

1. Sewage and
Organic Wastes
TREN 3P14: Sustainable
Integrated Waste Management
David T. Brown

2. Water Pollutants
• toxics
• nutrients
• suspended matter
• pathogens
• thermal pollution
• dissolved gases
• anthropogenic
origin (e.g. industrial
effluent, municipal
sewage, tourism
operations)
• natural origin (e.g.
silt, mineral nutrients,
wild animal wastes)

3. Significant concern in the tourism industry
• Water quality
• Water quantity
• Aesthetic
concerns
• Disease and
pathogens
• Local equity
issues

6. Controlling Water
Pollution
• Upstream:
before the problem occurs
• Downstream:
after the problem occurs

7. Upstream Methods of
Controlling Water Pollution
• process modification in industry:
elimination of pollutants and toxics
• avoidance of direct discharge into:
– water bodies
– storm sewers
– sanitary sewers
• identification of storm drains (e.g.
Yellow Fish Road project)

8. Upstream Methods of
Controlling Water Pollution
• decoupling of storm and sanitary
sewers
• runoff control:
– increasing absorptive surfaces
– avoiding erosion
– maintaining streambank and shoreline
vegetation
• legislation and regulation: guidelines
and laws establishing limits on
discharge

9. Neolithic revolution
• small towns and settlements ->
human excreta control generally non-
problematic
S
E
W
A
G
E

10. “In days of old
When knights were bold
And toilets weren’t invented
They’d leave their loads
Upon the roads
And walk away contented.”
S
E
W
A
G
E

11. Post - Neolithic revolution:
Large towns and cities ->
human waste control became a problem
high-density living required
technologies for handling human
wastes in urban areas:
• chamber pots and open gutters
• pit privies / trench latrines/ outhouses
• septic systems and variants
• centralized sewage collection and
treatment systems
S
E
W
A
G
E

12. "Our excreta--not wastes,
but misplaced resources--
end up destroying food
chains, food supply and
water quality in rivers and
oceans....How did it come
to pass that we devised
such an enormously
wasteful and expensive
system to solve a simple
problem?“
- Sim van der Ryn,
‘The Toilet Papers’ (1978)

13. Downstream Methods of
Managing Sewage: Small scale
• Temporary /
short term:
– packing it out
– single-use holes
– pit privies
– trench latrines
Meyer, Kathleen. 1989.
How to shit in the woods :
an environmentally sound approach
to a lost art. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, Calif.

14. Downstream Methods of
Managing Sewage: Small scale
• Long-term
– outhouses
– settling ponds
– septic tanks
– septic fields
– composting toilets
van der Ryn, Sim. 1978 (republished and revised 1999). The
Toilet Papers: Recycling Waste and Conserving Water. Chelsea
Green Publishing, Vermont. Online edition available at
www.brocku.ca/tren/courses/tren3p14/2006/ToiletPapers.pdf

15. Tourism operations:

16. Tourism operations:

17. Tourism operations:

19. Land-based wastewater treatment: Surface spray

20. Land-based wastewater treatment: Overland flow

21. Land-based wastewater treatment:
Subsurface infiltration

22. Downstream Methods of
Sewage Treatment: Large Scale

23. • domestic sewage treatment:
– preliminary: screening and removal of
large contaminants
– primary: straining and settling of solids
– secondary: removal of biodegradable
organic matter and nutrients
– tertiary: removal of residual dissolved
nutrients and pollutants
Downstream Methods of
Sewage Treatment

24. • effluent treatment processes:
– mechanical: filtering, gravity separation
– chemical: flocculation, coagulation
– biological: microbes or macrophytes
aerobic or anaerobic
– disinfection: chlorination, ozonation, etc.
(pathogen control)
Downstream Methods of
Sewage Treatment

25. • ‘physical plant’/ ‘engineered’ approach
(usually centralized, large scale)
• ‘constructed wetland’ approach (centralized or
decentralized, large or small scale)
Downstream Methods of
Sewage Treatment

26. Primary Sewage Treatment
BAR
SCREEN
GRIT
CHAMBER
SETTLING
TANK
CHLORINATION
TANK
SLUDGE
DIGESTER
SLUDGE
DRYING
BED
Raw sewage
Sludge
outflow

27. Secondary Sewage Treatment
BAR
SCREEN
GRIT
CHAMBER
SETTLING
TANK
CHLORINATION
TANK
AERATION
TANK
SETTLING
TANK 2
SLUDGE
DIGESTER
SLUDGE
DRYING
BED
Activated sludge
outflow
Air
pump
Raw sewage
Methane

28. Constructed Wetland

29. Constructed Wetland
S.W.A.M.P.
(SEWAGE WASTE AMENDMENT MARSH PROJECT)
Niagara on the Lake, Ontario
EXPERIMENTAL CELLS

30. Constructed Wetland
EXPERIMENTAL CELLS

31. Constructed Wetland
macrophytes
Cattails and Water Hyacinth

32. Large scale
constructed wetland
Saha Pat Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Thailand

33. Settling tank
Saha Pat Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Thailand

34. Sludge dewatering
and drying
Saha Pat Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Thailand

35. Aeration pond
Saha Pat Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Thailand

36. Outflow into
constructed
wetland
Saha Pat Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Thailand

37. Large scale
constructed wetland
Saha Pat Industrial Park, Laem Chabang, Thailand

38. Waterless toilet technologies
Clivus Multrum
composting toilet
• converts human
and organic
wastes into
odourless
compost

39. Waterless toilet technologies
• Scalable
• Waterless
• Low energy
• Suitable for remote areas
• Now CSA approved

42. Water and Legislation
• multijurisdictional:
federal, provincial, and municipal areas of
responsibility
• multifaceted:
laws and regulations deal with
– conservation and management of water
resources; protection of aquatic life
– pollution and liquid discharge
– drinking water standards

43. Federal Water Legislation
(in areas of federal jurisdiction)
Canadian Environmental Protection Act
(CEPA) : regulates the release of specified toxic
substances, the concentration of nutrients in
products (e.g. nitrates, phosphates); national
regulations for pulp and paper mill effluents
Fisheries Act: forbids the depositing of
deleterious substances in any waters frequented by
fish; regulates aquatic toxicity testing; regulates
pulp and paper mill effluents and requires
monitoring of effects on fish habitat

44. Provincial Water Legislation
Ontario Water Resources Act: Section 30(1)
prohibits the discharge of any material into any
water body, shoreline, or bank that may impair the
quality of the water
Environmental Protection Act (EPA) :
Subsection 14: prohibits discharge of any
contaminant into the natural environment that
causes or is likely to cause an adverse effect

45. Water Quality Guidelines, Policies,
and Objectives:
• cover water quality for many types of water
uses and aquatic environments (e.g. water
storage structures, sewage plant discharge,
drinking water quality objectives and treatment
requirements, etc.)
• legally enforceable when incorporated into a
Certificate of Approval or a Control Order
Banned and Phased-Out Chemicals:
• primary and secondary lists of substances to
be banned, phased out, or reduced in use due
to their persistence in water or aquatic
systems

46. • Drinking Water: Municipalities are
responsible for conforming to provincial water
quality and treatment guidelines for drinking
water from surface and ground sources

47. MISA
(Municipal, Industrial
Strategy for Abatement)
• program aimed at the virtual elimination of
persistent toxic contaminants from all
discharges into Ontario waterways
• dealt with direct dischargers (into surface
waters, e.g. sewage treatment plants, certain
industries) and indirect dischargers (into
municipal sewer systems).

48. Objectives:
• identify and measure toxic substances
in discharges
• increase emphasis on control technlogy
• pollution prevention and reduction in
multi-media transfer of pollutants
• strengthen abatement and enforcement
mechanisms -> eventual virtual
elimination of persistent toxic
substances

49. • Municipal-Industrial Strategy for
Abatement Advisory Committee was
eliminated by Harris government, and
MISA program severely weakened.
• Avenues for both public input and multi-
stakeholder input to government decision-
making were removed.
Starting in 1995, the Harris Government
weakened or revoked nearly every
environmental protection law in Ontario
and numerous regulations under these
laws.

50. • Every aspect of environmental protection
was affected, including controls on air
pollution, water pollution, pesticides, waste
disposal and recycling, urban sprawl, energy
use and climate change, natural heritage and
biodiversity protection, mining, and forestry.
DETAILS:
• Canadian Environmental Law Association
(http://www.cela.ca/):
Environmental Deregulation in Ontario - 1996-2000
http://62.44.8.131/coreprograms/detail.shtml?x=1780

51. Discharges to Sewers: Municipal sewer use
by-laws regulate substances which can be
discharged to sanitary, combined, or storm
sewers. Based on MOE Model Sewer Use Bylaw.
In absence of municipal by-laws, the Ontario Clean
Water Agency regulated these parameters.
Harris Government Bill 107 promoted
privatization of municipal water and sewer
infrastructure without voter assent.
Budgets for monitoring and regulation were
slashed.
Municipal Water Legislation

52. • E. Coli contamination of municipal water supply
from cattle manure results in hundreds of
illnesses and seven deaths, including two-year
old child
• Tragedy deemed preventable
• Incompetent management by Koebel brothers
(managers of water supply), lack of adequate
water testing, excessive budget cutbacks and
deregulation all identified as factors in tragedy
Walkerton

53. Further Details:
• The Walkerton Tragedy:
http://www.canoe.ca/EcoliTragedy/
• Walkerton Flash presentation:
http://www.canoe.ca/EcoliTragedy/Walkerton.swf
• Walkerton Inquiry report:
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/walkerton/part1/

54. 2002: Tory government introduced
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Sustainable Water and Sewage
Systems Act
to guard against another water tragedy
like Walkerton
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/water/sdwa/index.htm
• Act authorized the government to
implement key recommendations in
Walkerton inquiry report

55. • Acts criticized as inadequate, as source
contamination concerns not addressed
• Tories defeated in 2003
• Liberal government elected 2003
• Introduced Clean Water Act (Dec 2005)

56. • The Act ensures that communities
are able to identify potential risks to
their supply of drinking water, and
take action to reduce or eliminate
these risks.
• Municipalities, conservation
authorities, landowners, farmers,
industry, community groups and the
public all work together to meet
common goals.
• http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Source/Statutes/English/2006
Clean Water Act
(received Royal Assent on October 19, 2006)

57. Other related Ontario government initiatives:
• Watershed-based source
protection planning
• Revision of
Permits To Take Water
• Nutrient Management
• Groundwater Studies