New CAWT water treatment site opens
The Haliburton Fish Hatchery will officially open its new wastewater treatment site – a constructed wetland that naturally rehabilitates aquaculture effluent – with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, October 22 at 12:15 p.m. at the Haliburton Fish Hatchery, 66712 Gelert Rd. (County Rd. 1) in Haliburton County. Fleming College’s Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment (CAWT) worked in collaboration with more than 20 partners, joining forces to develop, install and monitor the demonstration constructed wetland.The success of the project will be measured by the quality of the treated wastewater but also in the educational value of the project, and the extent to which constructed wetlands may be considered in future as alternatives to traditional wastewater treatment.United Nations Environment Programme representative Vicente Santiago and ecological modelling expert Prof. Sven Erik Jørgensen from Denmark will be on hand for the ceremony. Both men are working with the CAWT on researching and developing the use of constructed wetlands to treat wastewater. MPP Laurie Scott, Fleming College President Dr. Tony Tilly and members of the college’s Board of Governors will also be in attendance.The project received over $200,000 in grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Haliburton Highlands Stewardship Council, Haliburton County Development Corporation, Municipality of Dysart et al., Ontario Fishery Enhancement and Aquaculture Association, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. About CAWTThe Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment is located at the Frost Campus of Fleming College in Lindsay, Ontario. The Centre promotes constructed wetlands and other innovative forms of wastewater treatment through applied research, education and demonstration projects.At the heart of CAWT are six outdoor horizontal and vertical flow wetland cells. These constructed wetlands are currently treating wastewater from the campus washrooms and are a focus of CAWT cold-climate research activities. Additional CAWT demonstration projects are underway to generate research data from a variety of constructed wetlands. Its current projects explore the suitability of constructed wetlands as an alternative wastewater treatment for both domestic and aquaculture applications.- 30 -For more information, contact:Laura Copeland, Communications Officer at 705-749-5520 x 1370 or copeland@flemingc.on.ca