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Project Update - Keeping Houseboat Season Afloat
Sicamous is situated on the beautiful Shuswap Lake in the interior of British Columbia and is known as the “Houseboat Capital of Canada”. Over the years, the increase in houseboat activity on the lake has caused increased influent loading conditions (TSS, BOD5, and Total Phosphorus (TP)) at the local wastewater treatment plant. Boats unload their sewage into the collection system and this increased influent has put stress on the existing WWTP’s ability to process TSS, BOD5, and Phosphorus in an effective manner.
The plant reached out to Waste’n WaterTech to help them find a solution that would meet their effluent objective of TSS/BOD5/TP of 30/30/1. Operations staff provided us with sample data showing the influent TSS in the range of 150-250 mg/L, BOD5 range 200-350 mg/L, and total phosphorus levels were in the range of 4-8 mg/L, much higher than their current plant process could deal with given the constraints of a lagoon treatment system. The provided data supported effluent dissolved phosphorus was consistently low and confirmed that we were looking at mostly particulate phosphorus.
We approached Aqua-Aerobic Systems with the sample data provided by the plant. After analyzing the data and conducting a needs assessment, they determined their Cloth Media Disk Filter Technology was an appropriate fit given the data showed high amounts of particulate phosphorus in the influent stream. The CMF technology is designed and engineered for stringent low total phosphorus applications. The cloth media consists of thousands of hair-like fibers that intercept and trap solids particles in the influent stream. These particles are stored in the cloth media until they are removed by using a backwash process step.
The District of Sicamous officially started up their four-disk AquaDisk filters on April 7/22 with the assistance of an on-site Aqua-Aerobic Systems Field Technician. The technician guided the contractor and operations staff through the nuances of start-up and performed a field checkout to ensure the unit was installed properly. The AquaDisk filter was tested using clean water to ensure that the filter and ancillary equipment were working adequately prior to running influent through the system. The filter is now receiving influent flow from the plant. In the coming summer months flows to the unit will be increased. When flows have reached the units design parameters, sampling of the influent and effluent will commence. The District of Sicamous will then be able to evaluate the performance of the AquaDisk, just in time for the summer houseboat season.
