It looks like Wheatland County will continue with an application for a lagoon system at Rosebud after the latest July meeting of county council.

Symbiotic EnviroTek Inc., a company that is engaged in an algae-based waste water project at Rosebud, gave Wheatland County council an update on their progress on July 2.

Elizabeth Huculak a representative from Symbiotic EnviroTek Inc., gave the council a bit of history on the project.

“Symbiotic EnviroTek is actually founded and owned by Art Deane,” she said. She explained that Deane, who was seated in the gallery, has been working on the project for over 10 years in terms of technology development.

She explained that they started by looking at waste water issues in rural communities in general.

“Fresh water is a growing concern, we know that right across Canada,” she said. “We have lots of water but it seems like the quality is under a lot of pressure.”

She spoke of the potential for economic development that could spin off of utilities.

“Rural areas are becoming more and more important for creating jobs and also in protecting the environment,” she said.

She also spoke about building forward for the future.

“We certainly see the Symbiotic project in Rosebud well aligned to all of these areas,” she said.

She noted the project aligns with the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) and the community economic development requirements that include cultural and economic development.

The project is a tertiary waste water treatment system at Rosebud.

She also spoke of the comparison between energy and impact on the environment between a system like Symbiotic EnviroTek’s and a traditional lagoon system.

The Symbiotic project uses algae to filter waste water.

“We are not talking about using sewage, or waste water to produce protein. Those are two very separate processes, but the science is the same,” she said.

In 2018, the pilot study was launched.

“It was over $1 million and expenditures by symbiotic to move this forward,” she said.

“Essentially what we are talking about is technology that grows algae like any other plant, using nutrients in the water,” she said. “It has been identified in the United States as an effective waste water treatment solution,” she said.

They can also produce bio-mass that can be converted into other products and generate revenue to offset operating costs.

One of the end products of the bio-mass will be oil that can be a substitute for jet fuel, lubricants and more. The bio-mass from Rosebud could be used as a substitute for canola oil, or a drilling lubricant.

The project actually worked with effluent from Rosebud and the community of Gleichen.

 

Alternatives presented

Huculak outlined alternatives for waste water treatment in Rosebud like packaged plants, septic and lagoons.

“A lagoon is not a cheap alternative,” she explained. “And it certainly is not, in terms of output, the environmental consequence is not ideal.”

She noted that a packaged plant and an ecological waste water treatment solution were highly rated.

“The packaged plants themselves still do not deal with nutrient discharge,” she said. “You still have nitrogen and phosphorus that you are going to have to deal with.”

The meeting revealed the county has already made an application for a lagoon for $3.5 million.

County council accepted the Symbiotic report as information, and held a discussion later in the day where they chose to continue with their previous application for a lagoon system in Rosebud.