The Town of Perth completed a new addition to its wastewater treatment system in 2018.
An eastern Ontario town of close to 6,000 people, it had met its wastewater treatment needs for almost 50 years with a three-cell sewage lagoon. But by the early 2000s, the system was operating near capacity. There were also concerns about ammonia in the effluent. The town needed to reduce its impact on the Tay River and prepare for a potential doubling of its population in the coming decades.
Provincial regulators recommended a mechanized wastewater treatment facility. At the time, the town was spending $125,000 a year to operate its lagoon system. A mechanized treatment plant could cost 10 times that amount to operate and $30–40 million to build. In the early 2010s, the town began looking for innovative solutions that could be implemented at a fraction of the cost of building a new plant.