Gold Bar met all its Discharge Limits in 2008
| Parameter |
Monthly Limit |
Annual Performance |
| Ammonia |
5mg/L (summer);
10 mg/L (winter) |
1.89 mg/L |
| Phosphorus |
1 mg/L |
0.51 mg/L |
| CBOD |
20 mg/L |
3.3 mg/L |
| TSS |
20 mg/L |
4.8 mg/L |
| E-Coli |
200 cfu/100mL |
14.0 cfu/100 mL |
Under Alberta Environment standards, nutrient levels must fall to 1 milligram per litre (mg/L) or less for phosphorus and 10mg/L (winter) and 5mg/L (summer) for ammonia. Improved phosphorus levels are already being seen in the river, and this curbs undesirable vegetative growth (algal blooms) that can otherwise rob oxygen from other life forms. Similarly, reducing ammonia is improving conditions for other aquatic life forms. And since bioreactors are equipped with a new fine bubble aeration system, plant nuisance odours have greatly decreased from what they once were.*
*See GB Annual Odour Report