Framing the Need for Applications of Ecological Engineering in Arctic Environments

Treatment performance assessment and hydrological characterization of an arctic tundra wetland receiving primary treated municipal wastewater

“…Furthermore, water quality improvement in sub-arctic and arctic wetlands receiving municipal and domestic wastewater has been demonstrated by authors such as Chouinard et al (2014), Yates et al (2012Yates et al ( , 2014,), Heinke (1993, 1995),), Dubuc et al (1986), andWright (1974). The authors identified the need for additional research on treatment mechanisms within the arctic wetlands, which requires characterization of the physical, hydrological, hydraulic, and biogeochemical context; treatment performance assessments; and long-term monitoring.…”

“…One of the most common wastewater treatment system configurations in the Canadian Arctic is the use of single or multiple cell wastewater stabilization pond(s) (WSP), which discharge into tundra wetland areas (Krkosek et al, 2012;Yates et al, 2014). Sixteen out of twenty-five communities in Nunavut (NU) apply this configuration.…”

Management of Tundra Wastewater Treatment Wetlands within a Lagoon/Wetland Hybridized Treatment System Using the SubWet 2.0 Wetland Model

“…The work by Chouinard et al [34], Balch et al [37] and Yates and colleagues [10,11,38] have all clearly demonstrated the treatment benefits provided by tundra wetlands. Wastewaters intentionally released from waste stabilization ponds (e.g., decanted), unintentionally released as leakage from the detention berms of the ponds (exfiltration) or the natural releases from facultative lakes typically exhibited levels of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (cBOD), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and microbial indicator organism E. coli and fecal coliforms that were higher than desired by territorial regulatory authorities [10,11,34,35,[37][38][39].…”

“…Wastewaters intentionally released from waste stabilization ponds (e.g., decanted), unintentionally released as leakage from the detention berms of the ponds (exfiltration) or the natural releases from facultative lakes typically exhibited levels of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (cBOD), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and microbial indicator organism E. coli and fecal coliforms that were higher than desired by territorial regulatory authorities [10,11,34,35,[37][38][39]. The existing performance data from lagoon systems often does not meet municipal wastewater effluent standards set for southern Canada at 25 mg/L for both BOD and TSS [36].…”