Commercial Landfill Leachate Treatment: Norris Arm, NL

Commercial Landfill Leachate Treatment

Norris Arm, NL

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The Central Waste Management Authority CWMA constructed a super landfill in Norris Arm to service the central region of Newfoundland in 2010. The original service population was 70,000 PE but this continues to grow and is expected to reach 250,000 as the landfill in now taking all the waste from the western region of the island as well.

Mr. Sharp P. Eng, our Engineering Manager, was the engineer on record for this wetland design project to solve the high Nitrogen and Ammonia issues with landfill leachate.

A conventional headworks with chemical dosing and settlement, followed by aerated and non-aerated lagoon deal with most of the TSS, TDS, BOD and CBOD issues of the leachate, but the wetland cleans up everything else. At the time the wetland system saved $ Millions compared to other conventional ammonia treatment system options.

This project, along with others with our similar engineered wetland designs have received numerous environmental excellence awards from such entities as: CME, NRC, FCM, ACWWA, PEGNL, APEGNB, SPAWN, NL Dept. of Env., and other.

Our designs are now generating Carbon Offsets, through our broker Carbon Zero, funds are now starting to flow, where we expect soon to be able to provide a Zero Cost to operate option for our clients. Either the Carbon Offsets will generate sufficient revenue to pay for your low operational cost or we will provide free operations in exchange for future Carbon Offsets.

For details on our Carbon Offsets from our wetlands, see our affiliated company Sharp Management www.sharpmgmt.ca.

Treating Wastewater Naturally

Award Winning Sustainable Engineered Wetland Technology
Phone: +1-709-793-7333 |  Email: matthew@sharpmgmt.ca

May 23, 2023 /  

Commercial Wastewater Treatment: Corner Brook, NL

Commercial Wastewater Treatment

Corner Brook, NL

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This is a very successful commercial wetland application, built in 2009, provides wastewater treatment for the Long-Term Care Facility in Corner Brook, on the west coast of the Island of Newfoundland, Canada. The effluent is on average CBOD < 10mg/l and TSS <10 mg/l.

Located on the land below the facility its design was wrapped around the facility for landscaping purposes and to run along the boundaries of the ajacent park, with walking trails combined into the parks network.

The wetland design through treating all of the wastewater generated at the facility by Natural Infrastructure gained essential points for the building to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Status rating.

The wetland system is comprised of two horizontal beds, for a total of 2,750 m2. The first bed is a bilateral horizontal bed, such that its inlet is in the center of the bed and flows outward to both sides, bilaterally. The second bed is curved and has an inlet on one side and an outlet on the other. The system is unique in that the flow can be adjusted from two (2) parallel bed to 2 beds in series. This allows the treatment to move from high flow capacity to high treatment capacity, by adjusting the direction of flow between the horizontal beds. This unique design alternative was based on varying design needs of the client, the NL Provincial Government and LTC Facility.

Our engineering manager Glenn Sharp P. Eng was the lead engineer on this award-winning project. The LTC Facility is also a teaching school which means the loading is comprised of 500 patents, staff and students combined. The CBOD can reach 5000 mg/l at times, as blood is common in the average wastewater flow of 75 m3/day.

This project, along with others with our similar engineered wetland designs have received numerous environmental excellence awards from such entities as: CME, NRC, FCM, ACWWA, PEGNL, APEGNB, SPAWN, NL Dept. of Env., and other.

Our designs are now generating Carbon Offsets, through our broker Carbon Zero, funds are now starting to flow, where we expect soon to be able to provide a Zero Cost to operate option for our clients. Either the Carbon Offsets will generate sufficient revenue to pay for your low operational cost or we will provide free operations in exchange for future Carbon offsets.

For details on our Carbon Offsets from our wetlands, see our affiliated company Sharp Management www.sharpmgmt.ca.

Engineered Wetlands For Your Wastewater and Industrial Needs
Phone: 709 – 895 – 7979 |  Email: whittlep@sharp-ews.com

May 23, 2023 /  

Municipal Wastewater and Sludge Treatment: Stephenville, NL

Municipal Wastewater and Sludge Treatment

Stephenville, NL

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This is the largest subsurface engineered wetland system design providing secondary treatment in Atlantic Canada.

It is located in the Town of Stephenville, on the west coast of the Island of Newfoundland, Canada. The system is located on the Stephenville airport property. A first for Transport Canada, no other sewage treatment systems are allowed on Airports. Subsurface flow ensures that the wetland does not attract waterfowl or other wildlife that could impact the airport operations and has created no issues since its installation.

Mr. Glenn Sharp, P. Eng was the lead engineer on this award winning 20,000 m2 wetland system which serves a population of 7,800. The average flow is 3,500 m3/d, or approx. 1.0 million gallons/day. The wetland system consists of 8 horizontal-flow subsurface wetland beds, 2 verticalflow subsurface wetland beds and 4 sludge treatment cells.

Effluent from the town passes through a spiral screen to remove plastics and non-biodegradable items. Then the flow enters a primary clarifier to settle out suspended solids. From the clarifier the flow is split eight ways and proceeds through the horizontal flow engineered wetland beds where biological reduction takes place. The flow is then recombined and passes through two vertical beds with final discharge to the ocean.

Sludge treatment cells are located on the other side of the airport. Wetland plants mineralize the sludge from the clarifier, producing a compost-like material. Onsite wetland sludge treatment cells provide significant cost savings by eliminating expensive conventional sludge drying and transportation costs or simply the costs for disposal.

 

The quality of the incoming wastewater fluctuates corresponding to daily and seasonal variations. Daily peaks are typically at midmorning and in the evening. These peaks are recorded as elevated BOD levels entering the clarifier. By the time the effluent has passed through the wetland the BOD has been reduced by 97% to approximately 5-10 mg/l. This is well below Stephenville’s limit of 40 mg/l for ocean discharge. Similar results have been obtained for total suspended solids, phosphorous, and Total & Fecal Coliform.

The wetland system was constructed in 2006 but due to delays in the headworks and collection system the system was not commissioned until 2009, making it now 14 years old. Just a youngster with the expectation it will be working late into its 70’s and possibly even longer, as the oldest systems in Europe with this design are now projecting to operate for over 100 years.

This project, along with others with our similar engineered wetland designs have received numerous environmental excellence awards from such entities as: CME, NRC, FCM, ACWWA, PEGNL, APEGNB, SPAWN, NL Dept. of Env. Our designs are now generating Carbon Offsets, through our broker Carbon Zero funds are now flowing where we expect soon to be able to provide Zero Cost to operate options. For details see our affiliated company www.sharpmgmt.ca .

Treating Wastewater Naturally

Award Winning Sustainable Engineered Wetland Technology
Phone: +1-709-793-7333 |  Email: matthew@sharpmgmt.ca

May 23, 2023 /  

Municipal Wastewater and Sludge Treatment: Appleton – Glenwood, NL

Municipal Wastewater and Sludge Treatment

Appleton – Glenwood, NL

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Glenwood and Appleton are two towns on opposite sides of the Gander River in Newfoundland. Both towns had ageing, overloaded sewage systems which could no longer meet the environmental regulations required for discharge into the Gander River.

Reed Bed technology can be used alone or in combination with other technologies to achieve one or more stages of sewage treatment. Mr. Glenn Sharp, P.Eng was the lead engineer on a proposal to design and build an Engineered Wetland as an environmentally friendly sewage treatment alternative.

The system successfully treats the waste, such that the resultant clean water can be safely discharged into the sensitive river system, in accordance with all the relevant environmental legislation.

Since commissioned in 2006, the system has continued to perform above the design expectations. All effluent sample analysis shows that the output provides more treatment than the requirements for secondary sewage treatment, and even performs on a yearly average at a tertiary treatment level. These results indicate a very successful secondary treatment project. (see table)

The effluent from both towns is pumped to the treatment facility where it passes througha grinder and a spiral lift screen to remove non-organic materials. The flow then enters a series of settling chambers where solids and suspended solid settle out.

During times of high infiltration, the flow is split by a weir that sends the main flow to the main wetland treatment beds and any excess to the storm water treatment bed. There is no bypass on this system. The wetlands reduce the contaminants by biological treatment. The two flows are recombined at the end of the system and discharged to the Gander River.

Other than the screen and grinder there are no mechanical or electrical components. No electricity or chemicals are required for treatment.
Sludge from the settling chambers is pumped to the sludge treatment wetland cells where it is mineralized by the plants resulting in a compost-like end product that can be used for landscaping. With treating the solids as well as the liquids, with no by-pass, this is truly a complete treatment system.

The project received numerous awards and recognition: In 2008, the town of Appleton received the Provincial Environmental Award; in 2010 the project received the Federation of Canadian Municipalities award for Leadership in Wastewater and Stormwater Design; also in 2010 it received the PEGNL Professional Engineering & Geoscientists of Newfoundland Environmental Award.

Second Year Average Tested Data – Appleton/Glenwood Engineered Wetland

Parameter Inlet Wetland Outlet Wetland Reduction Down River Outlet Down River Reduction Standard
BOD (mg/l) 210.7 9.2 95.7% 1.5 99.3% 20 mg/l
TSS (mg/l) 1390.7 3.2 99.8% 1.0 99.9% 30 mg/l
Nitrogen (ammonia) (mg/l) 11.4 6.0 47.1% 0.3 97.8% 2.0 mg/l
Total Phosphorous (mg/l) 1.3 0.6 58.3% 0.01 99.2% 1.0 mg/l
Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml) 2,364,000 59,400 97.5% 190 100% 5,000
Fecal Coliform (MPN/100 ml) 1,181,400 27,000 97.7% 110 100% 1,000

Treating Wastewater Naturally

Award Winning Sustainable Engineered Wetland Technology
Phone: +1-709-793-7333 |  Email: matthew@sharpmgmt.ca

November 19, 2015 /