Cumberland Liquid Waste Management Plan

The Village of Cumberland has a lagoon based wastewater system built in 1968 that fails to meet the modern standards for waste water effluent, having poor quality secondary treatment and no disinfection system. Therefore, the Village of Cumberland is planning to upgrade the current sewer system and develop a new Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) in order to eliminate the discharge of un-disinfected effluent to Maple Lake Creek, improve the quality of effluent going into the Maple Lake Creek, implement high level phosphorus removal, find an alternative discharge location, and consider the beneficial use of reclaimed water, heat, and biosolids. Cumberland will also evaluate the potential of possible treatment for removal of pharmaceuticals, options for a carbon neutral or negative process, as well as possibilities for habitat enhancement through constructed and improved natural wetlands. The project’s approach focuses on a more detailed assessment of alternate technologies to meet effluent standards, as well as the improved handling of discharge to the Maple Lake Creek during summer months. Affordability, economic, environmental, and social benefits will function as the “quadruple bottom line” methodology to assess treatment and discharge options. A Wastewater Advisory Committee (WAC), comprised of municipal, public, First Nation and regulatory agency representatives, will ensure that the study selects a balanced option that provides optimized net benefits to the resident’s standards of living. BC’s Ministry of Environment will also weigh in concerning provincial rules for the LWMP process, as well as the linkages between wastewater, water, environment and community. Further to initial public wastewater lagoon tours and preliminary public meetings, the WAC will lead public engagement open houses in 2017, which will further detail the progress of the study for public comment. Furthermore, the proposed solution must be economically realistic in the long term; as such, the study will consider the lifecycle of the technologies over a 30 year span, taking into account capital costs, operational and replacement expenses and costs, and population growth. The project will also consider synergies with the village’s potable water system, its energy consumption and GHG emission reductions, and its long term economic development. Several practices considered as innovative are being considered in this project such as the following: • Bio Solids processing by pyrolysis to make biochar • Low energy Bio Solids dewatering systems such as Geotubes and cloth filter dewatering «towers» • Plant based treatment enhancement – natural, constructed and floating wetlands for effluent polishing and removal of dissolved organic carbon • Social procurement policy The Village also desires to use reclaim water for the irrigation of parks and gardens, for government and commercial areas as well as for fire protection with a purple pipe system. Additionally, the Village of Cumberland plans to landscape the site in order to create a «plant in a park» that would have an intrinsic value and would be a destination in itself. The main expected environmental benefits would be the following: • Seasonal elimination of the effluent contaminant load into the Maple Lake Creek; • Improvement of the current water quality that meets seasonal federal and provincial standards (e.g.: Ammonia at 1.25 mg/L at all times; Phosphorus regulation during summer months between 0.005 and 0.1 mg/L; recommended dissolved organic carbon levels of less than 5mg/L, etc.) • Making the treatment process more energy efficient. In addition, some economic and social benefits are expected such as an increased return on investment, an extended lifespan for the facility, the creation of employment, an improvement of the quality of life and the revitalization of the community. (Project description from original funding application)