Horizon 2040: Wastewater Treatment Innovation for Continuous Improvement of Effluent Quality

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Wastewater utilities must comply with increasingly stringent effluent water quality standards to ensure the protection of human health and the environment. The Wastewater System Effluent Regulations (WSER) came into force in 2015 and set national baseline quality standards for effluent discharged from wastewater systems. Utilities may apply for transitional authorization to grant time to complete upgrades and comply with the standards. Depending on level of risk, systems may have until the end of 2020, 2030 or 2040 to make these upgrades. The federal government estimates that 25% of Canada's wastewater systems will require upgrade. Currently there are nearly 70 wastewater systems with transitional authorization. Halifax Water operates three chemically enhanced primary treatment wastewater systems. The estimated capital cost to upgrade all three wastewater systems is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The overarching objective of the proposed 36-month project is to improve the effluent quality of the systems. This will be achieved through lab-, pilot- and full-scale studies to identify viable chemical treatment optimizations, elucidate fouling mechanisms and test new technologies for disinfection, and assess discharge of contaminants of emerging concern, including microplastics. Municipal wastewater is one of the largest sources of pollution, by volume, to surface water in Canada. The proposed project describes a research partnership between university and utility that will ensure knowledge transfer that is timely for the industry through coordination of research, technology transfer and practice insights. The project will develop wastewater professionals for the sector by engaging ten trainees who will conduct research and acquire new skills in an industry-relevant environment.