The City of Yellowknife, commissioned a study of the Fiddler’s Lake wastewater treatment system to comply with its water licence, which reflected the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Canada-wide strategy for the management of municipal wastewater effluent (MWWE). This project was unique in Northern Canada due to the extensive sampling program completed for a northern lagoon and wetland treatment system.
The Dillon-led project goal was to satisfy the water licence’s terms and conditions and to give the City a definitive direction on the future capital and operational requirements for the sewage treatment system.
This two-year project focused on the following studies:
- Assessment of a noted pH spike in the wetland and resolution of the issues related to this spike.
- Characterization of the sewage effluent with respect to the CCME Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of MWWE.
- Long-term plan to examine and model the treatment system, project the population impacts on the lagoon and wetlands treatment effectiveness, identify the threshold level for identified parameters, capital and operational planning to comply with the CCME water licence requirements as they relate to the receiving environment.
Bathymetric surveys of the lagoon and wetland system were completed as a part of the sampling program. The sampling information was used with GPS-X modelling software to develop the predictive model results. The collected water and sludge quality data were used to calibrate mathematical model simulation of the treatment system biology.