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

废水公用事业必须遵守日益严格的废水质量标准，以确保保护人类健康和环境。《废水系统排放条例》（WSER）于2015年生效，为废水系统排放的废水设定了国家基线质量标准。公用事业公司可以申请过渡性授权，给予完成升级和符合标准的时间。根据不同的风险水平，系统可能要到2020年底、2030年或2040年才能进行这些升级。联邦政府估计，加拿大25%的污水处理系统将需要升级。目前有近70个污水处理系统获得了过渡授权。哈利法克斯水务公司经营三个化学强化初级处理废水系统。升级这三个污水处理系统的资本成本估计在数亿美元。这项为期36个月的计划的主要目标是改善污水系统的水质。这将通过实验室、试点和全面研究来实现，以确定可行的化学处理优化，阐明污染机制，测试新的消毒技术，并评估包括微塑料在内的新关注污染物的排放。城市污水是加拿大地表水最大的污染源之一。拟议的项目描述了大学和公用事业公司之间的研究伙伴关系，通过协调研究、技术转让和实践见解，确保知识转移及时地为行业服务。该项目将聘请10名学员，在与行业相关的环境中进行研究并获得新技能，为该行业培养污水处理专业人员。

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.