I am from Oakbank, Manitoba. I currently reside and work there, and we are part of the Rural Municipality of Springfield. I contacted our Utilities manager to get a bit more information that my general knowledge. What I know is that we have a lagoon East of town that can stink, but that is where our waste/treated waste goes. Here is the email from Greg Olson, Utilities Manager for the RM of Springfield:
Hello Alara,
All the houses and businesses in Oakbank, are hooked up to the public gravity sewer system. These series of underground pipes slope the sewage waste to a lift station. There are 4 lift stations within Oakbank. All these lift station pump the sewage to a main lift station, located on Springfield Road, about ½ east of PR 206. This lift station pumps the sewage to a lagoon located on Cedar Lake Road, just west of Willowd
ale Road. The design of the lagoon naturally treats the sewage. We can’t discharge the sewage between October 31st to June 15th of any year. Prior to discharge, we take samples of the sewage and test it for parameters required, and prescribed by the Province. If it meets those parameters, we then discharge the quantities that meet the parameters into the ditch on Willowdale Road. From here, it flows south to Cooks Creek Diversion, then west to the Floodway, which flows north onto the Red River, eventually into the lakes. We can discharge as often as we need to between June 15th and October 31st, provided the sewage meets the acceptable limits. One of the key issues about a lagoon is having enough storage to hold the sewage over the winter months.
This lagoon collected waste from Anola and Dugald too and also sewage from houses and businesses not on a public sewage system throughout the RM of Springfield, with holding tanks, or septic tanks. Previously, Oakbank and Dugald each had their own separate lagoon. These are no longer used, and will eventually be decommissioned.
If you need anymore info, let me know.
Greg
So I am not surprised really, as I mentioned, I have known bits and pieces about the lagoon
etc. What I did not realize was that our lagoon naturally treats the sewage and that our town is very proactive in making sure that samples are continually being taken for our health and safety. I did not realize that the system was so elaborate (being pumped to all kinds of places and eventually to the floodway) and is also a "gravity" sewer system that flows to each life station. As of yet I have not heard of any overflow problems or flooding (Oakbank is higher in elevation than Winnipeg, s
o we would rarely ever flood) nor any outbreaks of E.coli in our water supply from this system. Considering that there is wildlife habitating on or around the lagoon (I have seen geese, birds, even a large Owl), there is concern for what is being flushed down our toilets and ending up in that lagoon. Though eventually everything ends up in the floodway, "stuff" along the way can be deposited (plastics, medication, etc) and left behind in that lagoon. Hopefully people in my town limit what the flush down the toilet and in the sinks, as we depend on that lagoon to function properly for our own health and safety.
Hello Alara,
All the houses and businesses in Oakbank, are hooked up to the public gravity sewer system. These series of underground pipes slope the sewage waste to a lift station. There are 4 lift stations within Oakbank. All these lift station pump the sewage to a main lift station, located on Springfield Road, about ½ east of PR 206. This lift station pumps the sewage to a lagoon located on Cedar Lake Road, just west of Willowd
ale Road. The design of the lagoon naturally treats the sewage. We can’t discharge the sewage between October 31st to June 15th of any year. Prior to discharge, we take samples of the sewage and test it for parameters required, and prescribed by the Province. If it meets those parameters, we then discharge the quantities that meet the parameters into the ditch on Willowdale Road. From here, it flows south to Cooks Creek Diversion, then west to the Floodway, which flows north onto the Red River, eventually into the lakes. We can discharge as often as we need to between June 15th and October 31st, provided the sewage meets the acceptable limits. One of the key issues about a lagoon is having enough storage to hold the sewage over the winter months.This lagoon collected waste from Anola and Dugald too and also sewage from houses and businesses not on a public sewage system throughout the RM of Springfield, with holding tanks, or septic tanks. Previously, Oakbank and Dugald each had their own separate lagoon. These are no longer used, and will eventually be decommissioned.
If you need anymore info, let me know.
Greg
So I am not surprised really, as I mentioned, I have known bits and pieces about the lagoon
etc. What I did not realize was that our lagoon naturally treats the sewage and that our town is very proactive in making sure that samples are continually being taken for our health and safety. I did not realize that the system was so elaborate (being pumped to all kinds of places and eventually to the floodway) and is also a "gravity" sewer system that flows to each life station. As of yet I have not heard of any overflow problems or flooding (Oakbank is higher in elevation than Winnipeg, s
o we would rarely ever flood) nor any outbreaks of E.coli in our water supply from this system. Considering that there is wildlife habitating on or around the lagoon (I have seen geese, birds, even a large Owl), there is concern for what is being flushed down our toilets and ending up in that lagoon. Though eventually everything ends up in the floodway, "stuff" along the way can be deposited (plastics, medication, etc) and left behind in that lagoon. Hopefully people in my town limit what the flush down the toilet and in the sinks, as we depend on that lagoon to function properly for our own health and safety.Images taken by myself.
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