Waterloo Wastewater Treatment Plant Tertiary Treatment Alternatives Feasibility Study

This feasibility study from the Region of Waterloo (ROW) will evaluate three alternative technologies to conventional wastewater tertiary treatment for phosphorus removal in order to improve the quality of discharge to Grand River and Lake Erie. Other objectives of the study are to minimize the use of energy at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), reduce waste by-products, and lower greenhouse gas emissions and chemical inputs to the system. The Grand River is governed by Policy 2 of the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) Ontario Water Resources Act that states that no further degradation of the receiving water body is permitted. In addition to Policy 2, phosphorus reduction is stressed in the recent 'Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan - Partnering on Achieving Phosphorus Loading reductions to Lake Erie from Canadian Sources.’ While all high level planning documents support the need for tertiary treatment, ROW wants to move beyond conventional sand filters or even the cloth disc filters they have tried successfully at other plants. The feasibility study will explore more advanced technologies such as Cleasas, which uses algal biomass to filter wastewater, CoMag, which employs magnetite particles to attract particulate phosphorus, and Actiflo, which relies on ballasted flocculation technology. Criteria to select the preferred option will include the influent/effluent quality; the degree of maturity of the technology; compatibility with existing treatment processes; capital, operating and maintenance costs; life cycle cost analysis and degree of risks. The city has integrated public feedback from six public consultations on the WWTP Master Plan held throughout 2017. The steering committee for the feasibility study will include staff from the Region’s Water Services Division with representation from senior management, engineering and planning, design and construction and wastewater operations. (Project description from original funding application)