Have you ever wondered where the water from our Whitehorse taps comes from, and where our wastewater goes to? The 6-step-step lifecyle for the your domestic water is:
1. WATER EXTRACTION
Water is extracted from 6 ground water wells in Riverdale. Whitehorse no longer uses lake or river water.
2. WATER TREATMENT
All of the water is treated with chlorine. Residual chlorine levels of 0.8 mg/L in winter and 0.9 mg/L in summer are maintained. The City samples the water regularly and gets it tested by Public Health in all areas of the city to ensure that the water is safe to drink.
3. WATER TRANSPORTED TO YOUR HOUSE
Chlorinated water is pumped from the Selkirk Street Pumphouse in Riverdale through the urban areas of Whitehorse to Crestview. The Two Mile Hill Pumphouse pumps water to the upper escarpment feeding four “local pumphouses” in Copper Ridge, Hamilton Boulevard (McIntyre), McIntyre Creek (to service Porter Creek), and Crestview. These pumphouses direct water to reservoirs which are located in each neighbourhood to provide water for fire protection purposes and water supplies when the pumphouses are not operating. The energy required to pump this water around Whitehorse represents another energy input into the “Whitehorse residential water use equation.”
Here's a map of the City of Whitehorse water system.
4. WATER USED AND RETURNED AS WASTEWATER
Water is used in homes, businesses and public facilities. Water is either used outside (i.e. watering lawns, gardens or washing vehicles, etc.) or is flushed down the drain as wastewater through sinks, toilets, and washing machines. This waste water is then collected in sewers and pumped to the Livingstone Trail Environmental Control Facility which services all of the urban areas of Whitehorse except Crestview. Crestview has its own Lagoon. Ten “lift stations” are operated to move wastewater from your house to one of these treatment facilities including major lift stations in Riverdale, Downtown and in Marwell.
Here's a map of the City of Whitehorse sewage system.
5. WASTEWATER TREATMENT AT LIVINGSTONE OR CRESTVIEW
If the wastewater is pumped to Livingstone
Once the wastewater is at Livingstone, it is subject to primary and secondary wastewater treatment. Primary wastewater treatment refers to physical processes to settle out floating materials and create sludge. Some biological treatment occurs in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic activity). Secondary treatment refers to biological processes that encourage the breakdown and thus further treatment of sewage by biological processes that use oxygen (aerobic). Once passing through these cells, the treated wastewater is then stored at the long-term storage pond for up to a year before it is treated some more and then discharged to the Yukon River.
If the wastewater is pumped to the Crestview Lagoon
The Crestview Lagoon consists of the same primary and secondary treatment cells as are present in Livingstone. However, Crestview Lagoon has a large enough capacity to collect and treat the wastewater through evaporation, exfiltration and plant absorption without having to discharge any treated effluent to the environment.
6. RETURN TO THE YUKON RIVER
The treated effluent from the Livingstone Environmental Treatment Facility and long-term storage pond can be disposed of in one of two ways:
i. Pothole Lake
The treated effluent is able to flow to Pothole Lake which has been found to be hydraulically connected to the Yukon River. This effluent gets a third level of treatment (tertiary treatment) as it flows through the soils before reaching the Yukon River. Discharge to Pothole Lake occurs from August to mid-December.
And/or,
ii. The Yukon River.
In the event that Pothole Lake is not able to discharge all the treated effluent that collects within the long-term storage pond, the City is able to discharge the treated effluent directly to the Yukon River between October and mid-December also without pumping.
