Innovative passive treatment systems for source water protection

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The Province of Ontario has recently recognized the critical importance of effective source water protection measures to safeguard public health and environmental health (e.g. the Clean Water Act, which addresses some of the recommendations of the Walkerton Inquiry report). At the same time, it must also be recognized that innovations in wastewater and environmental contaminant treatment systems (for the design and operation of effective, cost efficient and operationally simple enhanced passive systems) are still required, to allow for source water protection in all areas of the province, particularly in the smaller semi-urbanized and rural areas lacking the resources to implement high technology "urban" style water and wastewater management infrastructure and processes. In order to be able to propose such innovative enhanced passive systems, a basic scientific and engineering understanding of these systems must first be gained, and this is best done through the long-term operation and assessment of full-scale field demonstration systems.The proposed research program will build on significant previous successes, in terms of the establishment of a substantial network of field research sites, and their use in the detailed assessment of system and process operation and design in cold-climate settings. Systems to be evaluated include a subsurface flow constructed wetland for the treatment of diffuse landfill leachate (Kingston ON), an innovative near zero-discharge vegetated filter (the Wastewater Garden), for the on-site treatment of domestic wastewater (Portland ON), and an enhanced subsurface wastewater disposal trench process using an innovative filtration medium for improved treatment (Cornwall ON). These processes are representative of the family of passive (operationally and mechanically simple) systems, but they also represent appropriate technologies for source water protection, once we have achieved a thorough understanding of the chemical, physical and biological processes at work through detailed field investigations. This information in turn will allow regulators to make informed decisions about the application of these systems in Ontario and across Canada.