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$1.30 Inc. GST Vol. 38 No. 44
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Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Vanderhoof student provides new options for local government wastewater treatment Vivian Chui Omineca Express A post-secondary student from Vanderhoof, in her last year of studies away from home, is applying her learning to local utility projects. Kathleen Horita from Vanderhoof, along with fellow environmental engineering students Maureen Long and Allison Matfin from the University of Northern British Columbia, presented options for a potential new wastewater treatment facility to the communities of Fort St. James and Nak’azdli Whu’ten First Nation on Dec. 8. Taking into consideration for each option its environmental footprint, the simplicity of operation, odour, the use of the resultant solids, potential energy recovery, water reuse, and the level of innovation, the study recommends a sequencing batch reactor, which uses microorganisms to treat the water through five stages, Horita explained. It’s an option with the lowest operating cost, lowest per capita cost, with not many chemical and energy requirements, she said. “Right now a lot of engineering projects are based on cost when they’re going forward,” Horita said. “It’s become a newer thing to assess them by the triple bottom line and look at the economic, social, and environmental benefits, and not basing everything only on cost.” With multiple community consultations, the project included many opportunities to work closely
with the affected communities and incorporate feedback into the final recommendation, she explained. “It was interesting to see how much they care and what their input involved,” Horita said. “How educating them in what the options were and what they need to consider, and how that changes their view of things.” She added, “We’ve got to really see what the environmental and social benefits and what’s important for the community to see for the wastewater treatment plant.” Started in September and finished earlier this month, the study was an extracurricular project for the students, who are currently in the last semester of their environmental engineering degree, Horita said. “It’s always useful to have actual legitimate engineering projects when you’re writing your resume,” she said. With relevant previous coursework, the students had a background in wastewater management, and it’s the first time they researched wastewater treatment options in such a detailed depth, Horita explained. “We learned there’s a lot of innovations that can be found with wastewater,” she said. “You can produce energy from it, you can recover heat from it, you can treat it and use it as fertilizer.” She added, “There’s a lot of things you can do with waste that’s only recently coming to light, so it’s an interesting field of study.”
Vanderhoof Air Cadets bring Christmas cheer The Air Cadets singing Christmas carols to the residents at the StuartNechako Manor on Dec. 15. They were accompanied by Thea Doyle on piano. Photos by Wayne Ray
See WASTEWATER, page 9
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