Water resource recovery processes at Inglewood
The Inglewood Communal Water Resource Recovery Treatment Facility is in Caledon. It discharges treated wastewater into the Credit River.
- Treats an average of 100 m3 per day.
- Designed to treat to a maximum peak flow of up to 243 m3 per day (2.43 ML per day).
- Inglewood water resource recovery process
Primary treatment stage: comminutor and screens
The first stage of treatment is the comminutor and screens.
This process removes most of the inorganic material such as cotton swabs, rags, large pieces of paper, feminine hygiene products, and other large objects.
The screen captures these materials. From there the materials are collected in an external trash bin to be taken to landfill.
Secondary: biological treatment tanks
The wastewater undergoes biological treatment during the second stage.
3 different tanks carry out the biological treatment: the anaerobic chamber, the Surge Anoxic Mix (SAM) tank and the Sequence Batch Reactor (SBR) tank.
Biological treatment tank 1: anaerobic chamber
Most of the heavier solids are collected on the bottom of this tank along with the waste-activated sludge from the third tank in the biological treatment.
The anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that work without oxygen) start digesting the sludge and remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The wastewater then flows into the second tank.
Biological treatment tank 2: the SAM tank
The SAM tank is fed by the anaerobic chamber.
The special bacterium in this tank breaks down the organic portion of the incoming wastewater even more before it's sent to the final tank.
SAM tanks control the process and provide rapid and complete treatment.
Biological treatment tank 3: the SBR tank
The SBR tank is the third and final stage of biological treatment.
At this stage, oxygen is needed to help the specialized aerobic (needing oxygen) bacteria complete nitrification (when bacteria oxidizes ammonia and ammonium ions and form nitrites and nitrates).
Nitrifying bacteria are some of the most important bacteria in this biological process. These bacteria reduce ammonia in the wastewater to levels that are safe to release into the river.
Peel is issued a facility-specific Environmental Compliance Approval by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks that sets out quality standards and operational conditions. We ensure that the final effluent and activities associated with wastewater treatment comply with the Approval and other related legislation at all times.
Filtration and UV disinfection
Once the biological treatment is complete, the SBR tank settles out its biological mass (activated sludge) and the clear wastewater is siphoned into the final effluent tank.
At this stage, the wastewater is now known as the final effluent.
The final effluent is pumped into a cloth membrane for final polishing. The final effluent flows through the cloth membrane and an ultraviolet unit to complete the disinfection process before being discharged into the Credit River.