The Village of St. Pierre has chosen a natural process to remove phosphorus from the water in its lagoon. Working with a company called Native Plant Solutions, St. Pierre developed a wetland lagoon cell that uses cattails to remove the phosphorus before the water is discharged into the river system.

Bruce Friesen-Pankratz of Native Plant Solutions says there are a number of reasons why St. Pierre preferred this approach instead of having to use the chemical alum to lower phosphorus to acceptable levels.

"Going the conventional route with the application of chemicals didn't make much sense to them logistically, economically and environmentally. So they worked with us to come up with a design that uses a natural process to polish the water and reduce phosphorus levels that would be leaving their system."

Friesen-Pankratz explains how a wetland lagoon cell works.

"As the water flows through the wetland, the cattails remove the phosphorus from the water and have long-term storage within the ground. It's a very effective process and it's natural, so once it's up and running, there's very little maintenance that needs to be done."

St. Pierre recently completed its first release of water from the wetland cell. Tests show that wastewater leaving St-Pierre’s new wetland only contains 0.03 mg/L of

Water samples show how much clearer the water is after being in the wetland cell.phosphorus. This is significantly lower than the provincial guidelines of 1 mg/L.

St. Pierre Mayor Raymond Maynard says they are very pleased with this new system.

"When we looked at the options to improve the output from our lagoon system and to meet the needs of our growing population, using a natural approach fit well with our sustainability goals as a community. Not only is a treatment wetland more cost-effective, it is also lower maintenance and has a much nicer esthetic."

Friesen-Pankratz says La Broquerie developed a wetland lagoon cell last year and it will be ready for its first release of water later next year.

He adds the RM of Ste. Anne is currently planning a wetland system that will likely go into construction next year.