Clearflow Group Inc.

Municipal/Stormwater

Stormwater Management Facility City of Waterloo

City of Waterloo Pond 53 used Gel Flocculant for dewatering clarification and Ultrabind for sediment binding-part of an approximately $1.3M retrofit with follow-on municipal awards.

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Stormwater Management Facility City of Waterloo

Location: Storm Pond 53, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

The Challenge

The City of Waterloo’s Storm Pond 53 (~3,000 m³) was at capacity and needed an environmentally responsible method to dewater and transport sediment sludge from the stormwater management facility.

The Solution

Clearflow provided a Gel Flocculant reactor and Gel Flocculant for clarification into a constructed ditch lined with treated geo-jute. Aquatic safety, simplicity, and efficacy were major factors in approval for use.

Ultrabind thickened the Pond 53 slurry with minimal added mass. Compost was added to make an amended soil; after approval, ~300 m³ was applied to municipal boulevards, saving substantial landfill tipping fees, with reported growth benefit on amended soils.

In 2018 the City of Waterloo awarded an approximately $1.3 million storm-pond retrofit for passive Gel Flocculant treatment and Ultrabind sediment binding. Due to that success, Peterborough and Innisfil Ontario awarded follow-on pond treatment and redesign retrofits starting 2019. Historical results are examples, not guarantees.

Field record

Proof from the field

Site photography, lab results and drawings recorded as the work was carried out.

Aerial view of City of Waterloo Pond 53 with the treated-jute lined dewatering ditch
Fig. 01
Pond 53 from the air, with the Geojute-lined dewatering ditch running out to the outlet.
Aerial view of Pond 53 at capacity with an excavator working the sediment beside backyards
Fig. 02
Pond 53 had reached capacity — the last purpose-built structure before stormwater reaches the environment.
Pond 53 seen from the bank with an excavator arm in the foreground and houses behind
Fig. 03
Sediment build-up had left little of the design storage, and less of the settling performance that goes with it.
Pumps and hoses feeding a Gel Flocculant Reactor at the edge of Pond 53
Fig. 04
Pond water pumped off through a Gel Flocculant Reactor before release.
Constructed ditch lined with Clearflow treated jute capturing solids from the treated flow
Fig. 05
The constructed ditch, lined with treated Geojute, catching the solids after the reactor.
Excavator bucket lifting Ultrabind-treated sediment slurry out of Pond 53
Fig. 06
Ultrabind turns the slurry into a liftable sludge — about 1 kg of product per cubic metre.
Tracked excavators digging out treated sediment from the drained pond
Fig. 07
Solidified material excavated without the added mass and volume that peat or sawdust would bring.
Truck and excavator spreading amended sediment along a municipal boulevard
Fig. 08
300 m³ of amended sediment applied to municipal boulevards instead of going to landfill.
Worker standing among young trees and grass grown in the amended boulevard soil
Fig. 09
30% greater grass and tree growth recorded in the amended soil.

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