| Summary: | Waste stabilisation ponds (WSPs) are the method of choice for sewage treatment in most arctic communities because they can operate in extreme climate conditions, they require a relatively modest investment, they are passive and therefore easy and inexpensive to operate and maintain. However, most arctic WSPs are currently limited in their ability to remove organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus from wastewater. An Arctic WSP differs from a 'southern' WSP in the way it is operated and in the conditions under which it operates. Consequently, the existing WSP models cannot be used to gain better understanding of Arctic lagoon performance. This work describes an Arctic-specific WSP model. The model accounts for both aerobic and anaerobic degradation pathways of organic materials and considers the periodic nature of WSP operation as well as the partial or complete freeze of the water in the WSP during winter. A multi-layer approach was taken in the model development, which significantly simplified and expedited model solution, enabling efficient model calibration to available field data.
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