Prior to 2006 the towns of Appleton and Glenwood had overloaded, outdated sewage treatment systems. Abydoz was contracted to design and build a new wastewater containment and treatment system. The system consists of 3 acres of lined containment cells. The system has been successfully operational since commissioning and is currently regularly treating effluent below detection limits.
Design
Population Equivalent: 1,800 PE
Average Flow: 1,000 m3/day
Wetland Treatment Area: 3 Acres
Average Effluent Results
CBOD: 7 mg/L
TSS: 5 mg/L
Process
The effluent from both towns is pumped to the treatment facility where it passes through a small building with a grinder and a spiral lift screen to remove non organic materials. The flow then enters a series of settling chambers where solids and suspended solids 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 main flow first enters a vertical flow wetland bed and is then split between the 4 horizontal flow wetland beds. The flows are recombined with the treated storm water at the end of the system and discharged to the Gander River.
Sludge from the settling chambers is pumped to the sludge treatment wetland cells on-site where it is mineralized by the plants resulting in a compost-like end product that can be used for landscaping.
Awards
2010 Federation of Canadian Municipalities Watershed Award for Leadership in Wastewater and Storm Water Management for Atlantic Canada
2010 PEG-NL Environment Award
2008 Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Environment Award
2007 Gander and Area Chamber of Commerce Environmental Award