Wastewater Reuse
Summer 2010
The CRD completed research on the possibility of water reuse in wastewater treatment facilities. With the acquisition of the Leech Watershed, however, and the affordability of drinking water in the Capital Region, it was decided by the Province that water reuse was not currently an option that the CRD needed to pursue. Recovered water would also need infrastructure and demand that does not currently exist in our region; as our population grows and alters in the future, this opportunity may be reexamined.
Below is a description of water reuse processes as they could apply to the CRD in the future.
What is reclaimed wastewater?
Reclaimed water is a water supply produced from wastewater to replace or replenish non-drinking water uses in communities. Reclaimed wastewater has gone through a number of processes to ensure that it is free of pathogens, micro-organisms and contaminants. Reclaimed wastewater can be treated to the point of being potable but would likely be employed for non-potable uses.
How would wastewater reuse work?
Water reclamation plants would use advanced membrane and UV disinfection technologies. The plants would produce water suitable for direct non-potable reuse in each local area. When the reuse water was not required, it could be discharged either to the marine environment via an outfall or augment flow in local streams and rivers.
With the increased availability and falling costs of membrane bioreactors, reclamation plants could easily remove flows from nearby sewers to produce reclaimed water closer to where it is needed. This could reduce infrastructure such as pumps and pipes in our wastewater system.
Water Reclamation Plants
Water reclamation integrates both water supply & wastewater treatment systems. We can thus conserve water & protect our environment.
Water reclamation plants could :
- Be compact enough to house in a neighbourhood home
- Produce a valuable water supply
- Ease the strain on local water supplies during times of low stream flows and low groundwater supplies