The need for wastewater improvement upgrades
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Upgrades to date
The City of Winnipeg has had a pollution control program for wastewater in place since the 1930s. Since that time, we have built new treatment plants and upgraded existing plants to meet the demands of a growing population and changing environmental standards. The following are highlights of the changes we have made to improve our pollution control program:
North End Water Pollution Control Centre (NEWPCC)
- 1937 - primary treatment starts
- 1954 - major plant expansion
- 1965 - secondary treatment added
- 1980 - primary treatment expansion
- 1984 - secondary treatment expansion, conversion to pure oxygen and added computer control system
- 1988 - sludge digesters expansion
- 1990 - dewatering building added
- 2006 - ultraviolet effluent disinfection added
South End Water Pollution Control Centre (SEWPCC)
- 1974 - high-purity oxygen secondary plant constructed
- 1993 - plant expansion
- 1999 - ultraviolet effluent disinfection added
West End Water Pollution Control Centre (WEWPCC)
- 1964 - lagoons (polishing ponds) commissioned
- 1976 - mechanical plant (aeration) added
- 1994 - new conventional secondary plant added
- 1998 - ponds operated for effluent polishing
Licensing background
Until 1988, the Manitoba The Clean Environment Act gave the City the responsibility for protecting water quality in the Red and Assiniboine rivers in the Winnipeg area. This meant we had the authority to control effluent discharges within the City and in an additional zone downstream of the City. Regulations within The Act required that the City monitor treated wastewater discharges (effluent) and report results to the Province of Manitoba. The Act did not require effluent discharge licences for wastewater treatment plants. The plants were operated to satisfy environmental protection guidelines set out by the Province.
The Province repealed The Clean Environment Act and introduced The Environment Act on March 31, 1988. The new act specified that all facilities in the province with effluent discharges with the potential to create environmental impacts must be licensed to operate.
In February of 1990, the City submitted licensing proposals for the three wastewater treatment plants to Manitoba's Minister of Environment in accordance with new Act. The Province indicated that final licences for the plants would be issued after a public hearing process to consider broader surface water-quality objectives. The hearings would include water quality in the Red and Assiniboine rivers within and downstream of the City of Winnipeg.
In 1992, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) was requested to hold a public environmental review in two stages:
- Determine surface water quality objectives for the Red and Assiniboine Rivers and tributaries in the Winnipeg region to protect current and future uses of those waters.
- Review strategies, measures, and courses of action (including time frames) required to implement the recommended water quality objectives determined in the first stage.
The CEC held public hearings on the first stage of the environmental review from November 1991 until January 1992. The Commission made 14 recommendations in its June 1992 report 
(pdf - 2,995kb) to the Minister of Environment, which were accepted by the Province in November 1993.
Two recommendations in the report required the City to conduct site-specific studies for combined sewer overflows (CSO) and for un-ionized ammonia. These studies were to be completed by July 1997 and then considered in the second stage of the environmental review. For a number of reasons, final reports for both the CSO and the ammonia study were not completed until November 2002. The reasons included:
- the time elapsed before the 1992 CEC recommendations were accepted by the Province
- the complexity of the studies
- Red River floods in 1996 and 1997 diverted resources
- discussions with Manitoba Conservation on the best way to proceed
In 2001, the City, Manitoba Conservation and Manitoba Health began working together to develop licences for the three wastewater treatment plants. The process involved review of the CSO and ammonia studies and other surface water quality issues related to the overall pollution control program. The process focused on developing proposed control programs, which would become the basis for plant licences.
Five workshops were held between December 2001 and April 2002. Through the workshop process we identified seven priorities for action based on environmental and health protection factors. The action items, in order of priority, were:
- Potable water treatment plant (this was recognized as not being a wastewater issue but still a significant financial commitment by the City)
- Wastewater plant effluent disinfection
- Ammonia reduction
- Biosolids management
- Nutrient reduction
- Combined sewer overflow control
- Land drainage improvements
The City developed proposed implementation plans, which included estimated costs, timelines for responding to the priorities and the water and wastewater utility's financial capacity.
In January of 2003, the Clean Environment Commission held public hearings in response to a major discharge of untreated sewage that occurred in the fall of 2002 at the North End Water Pollution Control Centre. The hearings were held in Winnipeg from January 20-22, 2003, in Selkirk from January 27-28, 2003, and reconvened in Winnipeg from April 14-16, 2003. The City outlined a 50-year pollution-prevention plan to the CEC, which included the components of the CSIF project, to address the seven priorities. The CEC issued a report (pdf - 738kb) 
to the Minister of Conservation in August 2003. The twenty recommendations, which were accepted by the Minister, called for more rapid implementation of nutrient reduction and combined sewer control. Specifically, recommendations number six and ten stated:
#6 – The City of Winnipeg should be directed to plan for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from its municipal wastewaters, and to take immediate steps in support of the nutrient reduction targets established for Lake Winnipeg. The City's nutrient removal plan should be a key element of a licence review hearing to be scheduled within two years; and
#10 – The City of Winnipeg should be directed to proceed with disinfection of wastewaters at the North End Water Pollution Control Centre without delay, and should routinely test for pathogens in all wastewater discharges.
The City has amended its long-term pollution prevention plan in consultation with the Province, including adjusting the timeline for the components included in this project.
Regulatory history
The history of the regulatory environment for the wastewater collection and treatment system since 1977 is:
North End Water Pollution Control Center (NEWPCC):
- March 30, 1988 – CEC Order No. 1188 (NEWPCC odour management)
- May 12, 1989 – Alteration approved for installation of a sludge dewatering facility
- February 26, 1990 – Environment Act Proposal submitted for the existing WPCC including the sludge dewatering facility
- October 5, 1990 – Approval for leachate treatment
- October 9, 1992 – Review of Odour Clauses Contained in CEC Order No. 1188
- December 3, 1992 – NEWPCC Odour Control Program, Review of CEC Order No. 1188
- June 1, 2005 – Manitoba Environment Act Licence No. 2684RR (UV disinfection, centrate treatment facility and WWTP upgrades)
- February 14, 2005 – NEWPCC Centrate Design Criteria Activity
- June 19, 2009 – Revised Manitoba Environment Act Licence No. 2684RRR
South End Water Pollution Control Center (SEWPCC):
- March 30, 1988 – CEC Order No. 1190 (odour control program)
- August 24, 1989 – Alteration Approval for clarifier expansion
- February 26, 1990 – Environment Act Proposal for existing WPCC and expansion to facility
- May 9, 1990 – Environment Act Licence No. 1363 issued for Stage 1 Plant Expansion
- August 4, 1998 – Alteration approval for installation of ultra-violet effluent disinfection
- August 25, 1999 – Amendments to disinfection alteration approval
- March 3, 2006 – Manitoba Environment Act Licence No. 2716
- June 19, 2009 – Revised Manitoba Environment Act Licence No. 2716R
West End Water Pollution Control Center (WEWPCC):
- May 17, 1990 – Environment Act Licence No. 1370 issued to authorize construction and operation of an activated-sludge treatment facility
- September 3, 2004 – Manitoba Environment Act Licence No 2669 for the WEWPCC and collection system
- April 15, 2005 – Revised Manitoba Environment Act Licence No. 2669ER
- June 19, 2009 – Revised Manitoba Environment Act Licence No. 2669ERR
Biosolids:
- June 17, 1977 – CEC Order No. 733 (handling procedures and soil application)
- December 9, 1977 – CEC Order No. 733VO (monitoring, reporting and waterway designation)
- June 16, 1981 – CEC Order No. 921 (sludge handling and storage)
- November 18, 1981 – CEC Order No. 921VO (sludge digestion and handling procedures, odour control)
- March 27, 1986 – CEC Order No. 1089 (odour control)
- December 10, 1986 – CEC Order No. 1089VO (sludge handling and odour control)
- June 14, 2000 – Environment Act Licence No. 1089ERR (under review) (pdf - 3,994kb)
Licence limits
Manitoba Environment has issued licences, under The Environment Act for our three wastewater treatment plants. Effluent quality requirement limits for controlled wastewater parameters are shown in the following table:
| Effluent | North End Water Pollution Control Center (by 2014) | South End Water Pollution Control Center (by 2012) | West End Water Pollution Control Center (by 2008) |
| Total nitrogen1 (mg/L) | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Total phosphorus1 (mg/L) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| E. coli2 (organism/100mL) | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| Fecal coliform2 (organism/100mL) | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| Total suspended solids (mg/L) | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (mg/L) | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Centrate | North End Water Pollution Control Center (by 2008) | South End Water Pollution Control Center | West End Water Pollution Control Center |
| Total phosphorus (kg/d) | 119 3 | n/a - trucked to NEWPCC | n/a - trucked to NEWPCC |
| Total nitrogen (kg/d) | 838 4 | n/a - trucked to NEWPCC | n/a - trucked to NEWPCC |
1 30-day rolling average
2 30-day rolling geometric mean
3 Total phosphorus load not to exceed 119 kilograms per day as determined by the 30-day rolling average
4 Total nitrogen load removed is less than 838 kilograms per day as determined by the 30-day rolling average
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This page was last updated on February 22, 2011 |
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