Grant: Engage Grants Program

We are evaluating how effectively a novel sub-surface passive filtration system may remove emerging wastewater contaminants as compared to wastewater lagoons, a common sewage treatment technology for small rural communities. Lagoons can only provide limited treatment of traditional contaminants, such as phosphorus and nitrogen. In addition, little is known about how well they remove emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and microbial antibiotic resistance from residential use. Traditional wastewater treatment was not designed to eliminate such potential environmental threats, and upgrading of existing facilities can be very expensive for rural municipalities. And with new, ever more stringent government regulations on wastewater discharge, there is an urgent need for low-maintenance, cost-effective ways to ensure compliance to meet standards. We have partnered with Dillon Consulting Ltd., a world leader in environmental engineering services, to see how their unique filtration system works with emerging pollutants. Dillon has a pilot-scale system installed at a Manitoban rural community; it provides significantly enhanced removal of traditional wastewater contaminants compared to existing sewage lagoons. We will characterize the lagoons, pilot-scale system, and the effluent receiving waters for a suite of common emerging contaminants. These range from the active ingredient of birth control pills, capable of endocrine disruption in aquatic organisms; to antidepressants; to antibacterial agents in soaps and other consumer products; to human- and veterinary-use antibiotics; to over-the-counter and prescription drugs of various classes. As well, we will assess the fate and stability of antibiotic resistance genes that can result from antibiotics. We predict that Dillon's filtration system will significantly improve removal of these emerging contaminants, and vastly improve overall effluent water quality, reducing the potential for impairment of the aquatic ecosystem. This research will provide valuable insights into how such novel technologies can better protect human and ecosystem health affordably for Canadians.