New technologies for on-site domestic and agricultural wastewater treatment

Recently publicized problems of water quality in rural parts of Canada are again bringing increasing attention to methods of dealing with wastewater i n rural environments. This includes wastewater from both domestic (principa lly single-family homes) and agricultural sources. Previous practices which relied on dispersal with little treatment are increasingly unacceptable no t only because of the recognition of the weakness of this approach but also because of the increasing intensification of land use in rural areas. Thus the need for additional and improved technologies for treating wastewater, on site, has increased. Because of this, new technologies have been develo ped which provide better treatment than previous approaches that also rely on natural processes. Examples of the former include peat, sand, and foam f ilters for domestic on-site wastewater systems. Engineered wetlands to trea t barnyard runoff or rural municipal lagoon effluent is an example of a tec hnology using natural processes. This paper describes some of these new tec hnologies and their potential advantages.