1994-1995
ADD Board Report 37
SRC Publication No. R-1640-7-E-97
Research project conducted as a partnership between Agriculture Diversification and Development Boards (ADD Boards), Prairie Farm Revitalization Administration (PFRA), Sask Water and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) with funding from Canada-Saskatchewan Agriculture Green Plan Agreement
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of the project was to examine and evaluate the use of five main treatment systems for prairie surface water.
RESEARCHERS:
J. Sketchell - Sask Water
D. Corkall - PFRA
H. G. Peterson - SRC
BACKGROUND:
A treatment trailer was constructed which incorporated 5 different treatment systems to compare performance. The systems included rapid sand filtration, biological filtration (Mainstream system), GAC adsorption, bank of cartridge filters and eight nanofiltration units.
CONCLUSIONS:
The (Mainstream) biological treatment system successfully reduced the levels of DOC, colour, turbidity and chlorophyll a (algae) in the water to within specified guidelines in each trial. The BAC filter improved the water quality by removing:
75% to 92% of DOC;
more than 80% of the colour;
73% to 96% of the turbidity; and
more than 90% of the chlorophyll a.”
The results of the sampling conducted on one of the three surface water systems are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Performance of Each Successive Stage of Biological Treatment System at One Site
PARAMETER |
GOAL |
BEFORE SAND FILTER |
AFTER SAND FILTER |
AFTER BAC FILTER |
AFTER RO |
Dissolved Organic Carbon, DOC (mg/L) |
<5.0 |
13.0 |
6.3 |
3.2 |
0.3 |
Colour (TCU) |
<15 |
16.0 |
6.9 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 Turbidity (NTU) |
<1.0 |
3.0 |
1.2 |
0.9 |
0.1 |
Chlorophyll a (mg/L) |
<0.01 |
0.015 |
0.001 |
0.001 |
0.001 |
For more information, please see Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s webpage Water Treatment Trailer and read the PFRA’s Water Quality Matters, Water Treatment Trailer page.
|
