Prince Rupert’s Innovative Wastewater Treatment System
By Veronika Stewart
Nature-Based Solutions Approach to Mandated Treatment
Prince Rupert, BC, nicknamed the ‘gateway to Alaska’ is on the list of coastal communities working, as Victoria did recently, to meet Federal treatment objectives for wastewater treatment. Once planned as a port community to rival Vancouver, the little northern town has seen industrial booms and busts over the past several decades that left it in a less than desirable financial position to tackle a potential $200 million wastewater upgrade.
Communities with an ocean view are also not enthusiastic about standard concrete wastewater treatment facilities encumbering waterfront areas. In Prince Rupert, where waterfront access is already limited due to competition from historic and current industrial uses, there is likely nowhere that is truer. The community is also the rainiest in Canada, which poses unique challenges for treatment in a community where storm and sewer have not yet been wholly separated. For these reasons, as well as financial and capacity-based ones, the municipality there is exploring an option to meet mandated wastewater treatment objectives that uses natural processes in more tucked away natural settings to treat their effluent.
The first site selected for the treatment pilot has an interesting history. Prince Rupert was a major outpost for the US Military in WWII due to its coastal location and proximity from Asia to Alaska. When the military left, they left assets like bunkers and other outposts throughout the community – but also several bunker C fuel tanks in an area known as Moresby Pond. In the last decade, the municipality has removed the tanks but has had few options to use the land left behind given historic uses. The site of a former tank left behind a perfect carved out area to place the pilot biofilter based wetland treatment system.
The final result for this first project will essentially look like a large planter and will service approximately 100 homes from the surrounding area. There is an existing sewer line running through the area from which a small portion of wastewater will be redirected into the constructed wetlands, before being tested and discharged back into the existing sewer line.
Within the constructed wetlands, solids are removed from the influent within a confined system housed in an outbuilding, before the liquid waste is piped beneath layers of soil and plant-life. Here, the soils and plant roots create the perfect environment for microbes to live, the microbes digest the unwanted contents of the wastewater, and the plants receive a constant supply of water at their roots. Each element of the nature-based system acts as a part of a cyclical environment that treats wastewater naturally.
MAGNA Engineering Services Inc., a Calgary-based civil engineering firm, is consulting on the installation of their MAGNA Biofilter Wetland System in this first site for Prince Rupert.
“What I love about working with Prince Rupert is that they don’t just do environment for environment’s sake,” said Jennifer Massig, MAGNA’s CEO. “They understand the value of sustainable solutions. They understand the things that support the community, the environment, and long-term fiscal responsibility.”
Prince Rupert recently won an Innovation Award from the EOCP for the design of the project, and staff are excited about what the future holds for this form of treatment.
“The City is excited to train its operators on the innovative biofilter-based wetland treatment system, preparing them for the future of wastewater treatment. With this new facility, the municipality is taking a proactive approach to building the skills and expertise needed for the successful operation of similar systems as more nature-based wastewater plants come online,” said Jordan Schmidt, Deputy Operations Director with the City of Prince Rupert. “This hands-on training will ensure that Prince Rupert’s operators are fully equipped to manage and maintain the next generation of naturalized treatment technologies that will play a key role in the city’s plans for sustainable growth and environmental stewardship.”
The project began in 2020, when Prince Rupert conducted a feasibility study that outlined the benefits of using this type of wastewater treatment technology. The estimated cost of constructing the project is $6 million, funded primarily by grants from FCM’s Green Municipal Fund both for feasibility and implementation of the project. Following confirmation that the treatment method is successful in Prince Rupert’s climate, the City plans to deploy it in other areas of the community.