Full circle
EPCOR is committed to building the circular economy
They say what goes around comes around, and for EPCOR, its commitment to a circular economy comes back to benefit customers and the environment.
Environmental engineer Saifmolla manages long-term planning for EPCOR’S Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Plant. “When it comes to long-term plans,” he says, “the circular economy piece is top of mind.”
EPCOR’S wastewater treatment process is emblematic of this approach, though EPCOR process engineer Rick Feng believes that ‘waste’ is not even the right word. “All water is a resource,” he says. “Wastewater is not wasted water, it’s used water.”
The entire process is about finding value in every element of what passes into and then out of the plant. “It’s about trying to prevent things from being wasted,” says Gold Bar process safety engineer Kim Alcorn. “A circular economy helps achieve the environmental goal of trying to keep our planet as pristine as possible.”
When the wastewater enters the plant, it is essentially separated into three different states — liquid, solid and gas. “We take things that might otherwise be considered a waste and we beneficially reuse them,” says EPCOR environmental scientist Diedre Bartlett. “There are just so many learning opportunities.
It’s exciting. Of course, no one ever grows up saying they want to work in biosolids!” she laughs.
With the solids, EPCOR’S Nutri-gold program supplies macro and micronutrients as well as organic matter to crop- producing farmers within the Edmonton area. On average, EPCOR is able to supply enough treated biosolids for application over 1,200 hectares of agricultural land. Phosphorous for farm fertilizer is also recovered from the biosolids at a Nutrient Recovery Facility, run in partnership with the nutrient recovery company Ostara. In addition to the agricultural land application, EPCOR biosolids are used at surface mining operations undergoing reclamation, such as the Paintearth mine near Forestburg, Alberta. These biosolids help regenerate natural plant life.
The water also goes full circle, whether it happens to come out of the North Saskatchewan River or the Salt River aquifer in the southwestern United States.
EPCOR’S Jeff Stuck has observed Arizona’s progressive approach to groundwater management for 30 years, perhaps the best example being reclaimed water use on golf courses.
“It’s part of the balancing of water resources,” he says. This reclaimed water is A+ standard quality effluent, the highest possible rating, meaning the water can be reused for any purpose other than human ingestion.
It’s even safe for body contact, which allows for usage at golf courses, parks or for non-edible crops.
“It’s just another way to preserve aquifer water for potable use,” says Stuck.
Back at the Gold Bar plant, wastewater is put through a stringent purification process once solids and nutrients have been separated out. But before any treated water is returned to the river, even gas and heat can be reclaimed. Wastewater is high in energy because it comes from the human body and controlled climate locations.
Work is ongoing to learn how best to extract the heat energy and when it eventually is, “It’ll just be another piece in the circular economy puzzle,” says Molla. “There is still so much potential.”
Heat may not be extracted yet, but the methane in biogas is. It’s used to heat buildings and feed boilers and digesters, which means some of the energy in wastewater is turned around to treat and purify new wastewater coming in.
When it comes to the bigger picture, having the ability to act on good ideas is critical, says Stuck. “We have a seat at the table to create the water management policies of the future.”
Benefits accrue at every level of the circular economy — customers get more efficient service, regulators and shareholders increase their trust, employees are highly motivated and the planet is better off.
The focus at Gold Bar may be wastewater, says Molla, but big picture thinking happens throughout EPCOR. “We’re talking wastewater here because it’s obviously the most exciting part!” He says.
Given EPCOR’S group of dedicated employees, it’s not hard to imagine that one day there actually will be kids dreaming of working in biosolids. Now that would be full circle.