Whitehorse discharges treated sewage into Yukon River annually

Every fall, the City of Whitehorse release a year's worth of wastewater into the Yukon River from its sewage lagoon to make room for new inflows.

Even though the equivalent of eight Olympic swimming pools of wastewatermay be released every day during the dischargeperiod, which runs until December 15 this year, Whitehorse's manager of water and waste servicessaysithas very little impact.

"When we actually discharge, it's very high quality water," says Dave Albisser. "We're way below our required minimums for parameters like suspended solids."

The water doesn't go straight from toilets and sewers into the river. Wastewater is collected and moved fromprimary tosecondary storage ponds in theLivingstoneTrail Sewage Lagoon. Its final stage before being released intothe river is the long-term pond, which can hold a year's worth of wastewater.

The wastewater is released in the fall because most of the treatment happens in the summer, says Albisser. That's when nutrients in the water getused up and it contains the fewest contaminants and solids.

Built for growth

The sewage lagoon is about 20 years old but was built with population estimates in mind, Albisser says.

He says itshould be able to accommodate the growth of areas like Whistle Bend, since the long term storage pond is only using about two-thirds of its six million cubic metre capacity.

"So we do have a bit of room yet," Albisser says.