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The Challenge
In Canada, all levels of government share responsibility for managing the collection, treatment and release of wastewater effluent. The Government of Canada is responsible for managing the risks posed by substances listed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) and for protecting fish and fish habitat from harm caused by deleterious substances under the Fisheries Act.
The Government of Canada also manages the environmental performance of federal and Aboriginal facilities such as wastewater treatment and collection systems through tools such as the Guidelines for Effluent Quality and Wastewater Treatment at Federal Establishments, EPS 1-EC-76-1, April 1976. The purpose of these guidelines is to indicate the degree of treatment and effluent quality applicable to all wastewater discharged from existing and proposed federal and Aboriginal installations. Federal and Aboriginal facilities like other small communities across Canada are faced with unigue challenges and decisions regarding the treatment and management of wastewater. Linking Water Science to Policy: Wastewater Treatment for Small Communities explores some of the challenges faced by small communities to ensure protection of human and ecosystem health through effective wastewater treatment.
In Canada, most wastewater systems are owned and operated by municipalities. Much of the Canadian population is served by wastewater collection and treatment systems, however, wastewater receives various levels of treatment to remove pollutants prior to discharge, ranging from no treatment to very sophisticated, thorough treatment. As a result, wastewater quality and the amount of pollutants released to the environment vary across Canada.
What is Environment Canada doing?
Environment Canada is taking important steps to help improve the state of wastewater management in Canada. Environment Canada’s vision is to ensure that, across the country, the release of wastewater effluents does not pose unacceptable risks to human and ecosystem health and fishery resources.
In working towards this vision, recent legislative actions have been taken to address pollutants in wastewater such as ammonia dissolved in water, inorganic chloramines and chlorinated wastewater effluents.
On December 4, 2004, Environment Canada published in the Canada Gazette a:
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More information on the steps leading to the publication of the final instruments
Provinces and territories have jurisdictional responsibilities for natural resources which include water. They also have the legislative authority for municipalities and works of a local and private nature. Consequently, they exercise their legislative powers to control effluents released from municipal wastewater systems. Environment Canada recognizes the key role that provinces and territories play in the management of the municipal wastewater sector and is working with these jurisdictions and other stakeholders through the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment (CCME). In November 2003, the CCME agreed to develop a Canada-wide Strategy for the management of municipal wastewater effluents. The Strategy to be completed by December 2006 will include:
- a harmonized regulatory framework;
- coordinated science and research;
- an environmental risk management model.
Environment Canada intends to develop a regulation under the Fisheries Act as its principal instrument to implement the Canada-wide Strategy.
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What's New | About Wastewater | What's Being Done | How We Got Here
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