Characterizing Phosphorus Removal in Passive Waste Stabilization Ponds in Arctic Communities

• Main Authors: Schmidt, Jordan J, Ragush, Colin M, Krkosek, Wendy H, Gagnon, Graham A, Jamieson, Rob C
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2016
• Subjects: Arctic; Clyde River; Grise Fiord; Kugaaruk; Nunavut; Pond Inlet
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/71847; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2015-0002

A majority of communities in the Canadian territory of Nunavut rely on passive waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) for domestic wastewater treatment. Little research has been conducted on the treatment performance of these systems. Therefore, in response to impending federal wastewater regulations, a research program was conducted in order to characterize contaminant removal, with phosphorus a contaminant of particular concern. The performance of WSPs in the Arctic communities of Kugaaruk, Pond Inlet, Grise Fiord and Clyde River was evaluated from 2011 to 2014. Removal of total phosphorus was highly variable ranging from 24% (Pond Inlet, 2014) to 76% (Grise Fiord, 2011). The average removal efficiency was 44%. Effluent total phosphorus concentrations generally exceeded 7 mg P/L, partly due to elevated raw wastewater concentrations. Over the course of the treatment season (defined as June to September, when the WSP is thawed), limited additional total phosphorus removal was observed. A fractionation analysis of WSP sediments showed that organic phosphorus and phosphorus bound to aluminum and iron were the predominant forms, which provided insight into primary treatment mechanisms. Further studies on these mechanisms are needed in order to optimize Arctic WSP treatment. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.