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Wastewater Stabilization Ponds (WSPs) are passive treatment systems influenced by both the ambient environment and the manner in which they are operated. Construction of wastewater treatment facilities is particularly challenging in the Canadian Arctic because of the remoteness of the communities and the extreme climate. Here, experimental bench scale WSPs were used to simulate single cell WSPs operating under summer treatment conditions in the Arctic. Experiments were performed to examine factors (temperature, irradiance, initial carbon concentrations, and organic loading rate) that may influence the oxygen state and carbon removal. All four factors were found to significantly (p < 0.05) affect oxygen state and carbon removal, but temperature (5 °C vs 15 °C) and initial carbon concentration (80 vs 240 mg/l) were found to be the most important factors. Final CBOD 5 concentrations in the experimental columns ranged from <10 to 150 mg/l, and only experimental columns operated at low temperature and high initial carbon concentrations had final CBOD 5 concentrations >30 mg/l. Phytoplankton growth and metabolism appears to have a prominent impact on CBOD 5 removal and the oxygen status of the experimental WSPs. The findings suggest that WSPs operating in cool arctic climates are more sensitive to perturbation by weather or operational changes than similar systems in warmer climates, and greater consideration for process resiliency needs to be incorporated into the design of arctic WSPs. This study provides further evidence that WSPs are an appropriate municipal wastewater technology for the Arctic and can achieve effluent CBOD 5 concentrations that meet secondary wastewater treatment standards, provided they are appropriately sized, designed, and operated for arctic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of small remote communities in the Canadian arctic territory of Nunavut utilize waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) for municipal wastewater treatment because of their relatively low capital and operational costs, and minimal complexity. New national effluent quality regulations have been implemented in Canada, but not yet applied to Canada's Arctic due to uncertainty related to the performance of current wastewater treatment systems. Waste stabilization pond (WSP) treatment performance is impacted by community water use, pond design, and climate. The greatest challenge arctic communities experience when using passive wastewater treatment technologies is the constraints imposed by the extreme climate, which is characterized as having long cold winters with short cool summers that can be solar intense. The removal of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD 5 ), total suspended solids (TSS), and ammonia-nitrogen were measured during the summer treatment period (late June until early September) from 2011 to 2014 in the WSP systems of four Nunavut communities; Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Grise Fiord and Kugaaruk. Monitoring results showed that WSPs in their current single cell design can achieve greater than 80% removal of CBOD 5 and TSS but were challenged to produce effluent quality that meets secondary wastewater treatment standards (<25 mg/l CBOD 5 and TSS). This study points to the need for revisions of design guidelines for facultative WSPs in the Arctic, as current systems are anaerobic and do not contain sufficient dissolved oxygen required to consistently support aerobic biological treatment processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic communities often face drinking water supply challenges that are unique to their location. Consequently, conventional drinking water regulatory strategies often do not meet the needs of these communities. A literature review of Arctic jurisdictions was conducted to evaluate the current water management approaches and how these techniques could be applied to the territory of Nunavut in Canada. The countries included are all members of the Arctic Council and other Canadian jurisdictions considered important to the understanding of water management for Northern Canadian communities. The communities in Nunavut face many challenges in delivering safe water to customers due to remoteness, small community size and therefore staffing constraints, lack of guidelines and monitoring procedures specific to Nunavut, and water treatment and distribution systems that are vastly different than those used in southern communities. Water safety plans were explored as an alternative to water quality regulations as recent case studies have demonstrated the utility of this risk management tool, especially in the context of small communities. Iceland and Alberta both currently have regulated water safety plans (WSPs) and were examined to understand shortcomings and benefits if WSPs were to be applied as a possible strategy in Nunavut. Finally, this study discusses specific considerations that are necessary should a WSP approach be applied in Nunavut.