Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant 

The Gold Bar wastewater treatment facility was transferred from the City of Edmonton to EPCOR on April 1, 2009. EPCOR owns the Gold Bar wastewater treatment plant. EPCOR also owns the mains specifically used to transport treated wastewater sludge (biosolids) to and from the Clover Bar lagoons located at the City's Clover Bar waste management site. These same lines are used to return ‘supernatant’, the liquid fraction of the settled biosolids, from the lagoons to the plant. The City of Edmonton retains ownership and management of the wastewater collection system including sanitary and storm mains, pump stations, manholes, storm water ponds, and the Clover Bar lagoons.

Located on the city's eastern outskirts on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River, the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant handles the wastewater requirements for over 820,000 people in the greater Edmonton area. The plant’s 19.5 hectare site is the same property as when it first opened in 1956. Current treatment capacity is 310 million litres per day. In one year, the treatment volume at the plant is roughly 100,000 million litres - enough to fill 37,000 Olympic-length swimming pools (more than 100 per day).

Innovation and Expertise

Through continual upgrades and innovations, Gold Bar remains at the forefront of wastewater treatment technology. The scientific processes, technologies and equipment that are described below provide insight into one of the most innovative wastewater treatment operations in North America. Its tradition of wastewater treatment excellence is evident today with the plant’s Wastewater Research and Training Centre, part of the Edmonton Waste Management Centre of Excellence.

Gold Bar at a glance

• Opened in 1956 - originally designed for 250,000 people. At that time, Edmonton’s population was just over 223,000; however, the Gold Bar Plant was assisted by some smaller wastewater facilities, such as the two in Queen Elizabeth Park. The new plant provided secondary treatment. Following major process capacity expansions in the late 1960s and early 1980s, followed by a major upgrade to tertiary treatment standards beginning in the mid-1990s, today’s plant handles the wastewater requirements for over 780,000 people. Some of that population is made up of the southern communities of Leduc, Beaumont and Nisku (including the international airport) whose wastewater is treated at Gold Bar.
• Located - on 19.5 hectares (48.2 acres) on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River at 50 Street in Edmonton. The municipal address is 10977 - 50 Street.
• Facility Classification - Class IV facility. ISO 14001- certified. Member of Strathcona Industrial Association (SIA).
• Customers & Population Served - Today Gold Bar handles wastewater needs of over 750,000 in Edmonton and south capital region. Supplies high-grade process water to Suncor's Edmonton Refinery in Strathcona County from the country's largest membrane-based treatment facility, up to 15 million litres per day.
• Wastewater 'Swap' Agreement - Gold Bar accepts wastewater from Leduc, Beaumont, Nisku and International Airport in exchange for wastewater from the city's northeast communities being handled by the Alberta Capital Region Wastewater Commission (ACRWC). The ACRWC facility treats wastewater from most communities in the Edmonton Capital Region area. Wastewater from the southern communities is pumped to the city’s gravity fed sewer system via force-main, eventually making its way to the Gold Bar Plant.
• Sewer System - 15% of Edmonton's developed area has a combined (sanitary & storm water) sewer system. For Gold Bar this means variable flow conditions, often with sharp fluctuations in wet weather months. Enhanced Primary Treatment (EPT) clarifiers at the plant are designed to handle wet weather flows, such as spring run-off and summer storms.
• % of Flow Contributed By Source - 55% residential; 30% industrial/commercial/institutional; 15% combined sewers and infiltration.

Plant Capacities - Liquid & Solid

• Current Design Capacity: 310 million litres per day.
• Peak Primary Treatment Capacity: 910 million litres per day.
• Peak Secondary/Tertiary Treatment Capacity: 420 million litres per day. (10 operating bioreactors of 42 million litres per day; 1 back-up bioreactor for redundancy.)
• Headworks (grit removal & screening) Capacity: 1600 million litres per day
• Digester Capacity: 47.5 million litres combined capacity from six digesters. Two new ones are under construction and will be operational in 2011. They will add another 20 million litres of solids-handling capacity.

Effluent Discharge Limits

In accordance with the Approval To Operate, issued by Alberta Environment, the quality of the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant’s treated effluent must meet the following monthly limits. Complete annual reports are also available.

Actual Treated Flows (2009)

• Average Daily Flow: 255 million litres per day
• Highest Peak Daily Flow (2007): 747.1 million litres (May 5/07).
• Total Annual Flow: 92,887 million litres
• Highest Recorded Annual Flow: 102,145 (in 1991). Variability is due to effects of annual precipitation and combined sewer system.
• Biosolids Treated & Transferred to Clover Bar Lagoons: 19,586 dry tonnes (dt).
• Biosolids Disposed (2007): 25,596 dry tonnes - 10,691 dry tonnes by land application and 14,244 dry tonnes by composter
• Biogas Produced: 14,591,360 m³; 70% consumed; 30% flared.
• Treatment Duration - 18 hours average from start to finish for full tertiary treatment; formerly 12 hours when a secondary treatment facility.

Expansions & Upgrades

• Plant Expansions: two processing capacity increases, a decade apart, with the last in 1981. The site has room on the eastern perimeter, if needed and if the same configuration is followed, for three more bioreactors/clarifiers or up to 126 million litres per day.
• Treatment Upgraded: improved effluent quality - tertiary treatment upgrade began in 1995; completed in December 2001, three years ahead of mandated deadline from province.
• Tertiary Treatment Description: disinfection of final effluent and nutrient (phosphorus and ammonia) removal. Both disinfection and nutrient removal are non-chemical processes; they are accomplished by high-intensity UV light and Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) respectively. Facilities to support the BNR upgrade component include primary sludge fermenters; sludge blend tanks; Waste Activate Sludge (WAS) thickeners; two new bioreactors/clarifiers; and a new 3,500 horse power blower.

Environmental Highlights

• Produces treated effluent with a bacteria count 20 times better than the regulatory standard.
• Features a membrane-based wastewater recycling facility which supplies local industry with reclaimed water.
• Has four wet ‘scrubbers’ for odour control.
• Recovers more than $1million in annual fuel savings by utilizing biogas.