Is wastewater effluent being monitored in the NWT?
In November 2003, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) agreed to develop the Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent. The goal is to achieve secondary level treatment and to develop discharge objectives and monitoring programs for wastewater systems. In February 2007, EC and INAC formed the Northern Research Working Group to plan for and implement the actions necessary to develop appropriate recommendations to address the unique conditions of northern Canada. The working group’s mandate is to facilitate further understanding of municipal wastewater effluent and site conditions in the North. The working group assists jurisdictions by providing a communications forum and technical expertise on northern municipal wastewater effluent issues, as well as by working with communities on the importance of sampling and reporting of wastewater effluent. A sampling program was initiated in the summer of 2007 and continued in 2008 and 2009 to
