South Gaspésie - Evaluation of wastewater treatment systems
Algae in the estuaries of Chaleur Bay: wastewater discharges to blame?
At South Gaspé Water Council (CEGS), there has been concern for several years about the proliferation of algae, particularly in the Bonaventure River estuary. What if discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants contributed to the problem?
The CEGS turned to the Fondation Rivières in order to take stock of the situation. The project aimed to evaluate the performance of municipal wastewater treatment systems on its territory between 2017 and 2020 and to produce a summary report intended for municipal decision-makers, interest groups and the public.
Source: Bonaventure River. Credit : South Gaspé Water Council (CEGS)
Study area of municipal wastewater treatment works in the south of the Gaspé Peninsula
Services
- Data compilation Monitoring system for municipal water sanitation works (SOMAE)
- Interpretation of diagrams and tracking data
Telephone interviews with many water sanitation services - Production of a summary table of suggested courses of action
Partners and collaborators
- South Gaspé Water Council (CEGS)
- Carleton-sur-Mer
- maria
- New Richmond
- Caplan
- Saint-Siméon (Bonaventure)
- Bonaventure
- Hope
- Port-Daniel-Gascons
- Chandler
- Grande-Rivière
- Perforated
Methodology
The raw data from Monitoring of municipal wastewater treatment works (SOMAEU) 2017-2019 were obtained from the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC). The 14 wastewater treatment plants and their network were distributed among 3 study areas according to the sensitivity of their receiving environment (see map). An evaluation was then carried out on the basis of two main aspects: the performance of the wastewater treatment plants and the performance of the networks and overflow structures.
The operators or directors of public works responsible for wastewater treatment systems first received a descriptive sheet presenting the data collected and summarizing the main issues related to the performance of their sanitation system. These people were then asked to complete a questionnaire on planned improvements and recent work carried out both on the network and at the station. We then held video conference calls to go deeper into understanding how the works work and developing potential solutions to the problems identified in the previous stages of the consultation.
Duration of the study
The evaluation of the wastewater treatment systems took place between January and November 2021.
Findings
01.
Two municipalities still do not have a treatment station.
02.
There is a high to serious frequency of overflows for 6 of the health networks studied.
03.
Three stations discharging their wastewater into salmon rivers have no phosphorus discharge requirements.
Faced with these findings, the Foundation recommends the implementation of phosphorus discharge requirements for stations discharging wastewater into salmon rivers in order to limit the appearance of algae, rapid construction of the Caplan treatment stations and Chandler (Newport) to stop the continuous discharge of untreated wastewater into Baie-des-Chaleurs and to reduce wastewater overflows in order to allow the reopening of shellfish harvesting sectors. That said, the support of the MELCC is essential for municipalities to be able to achieve this.
The MELCC must devote more means and resources to municipalities in the south of the Gaspé Peninsula in wastewater management.
Equipping municipalities and raising public awareness
The disclosure of the results received significant media coverage, which called on the MELCC to act quickly. At the same time, the CEGS has taken the necessary measures to raise awareness among the population about the behaviors to adopt to reduce wastewater spills: posting posters in businesses to inform of the damage caused by disposable wipes and capsules broadcast on the radio to to remind people of the importance of disconnecting gutters and foundation drains.
