It is a few months off yet, but the annual spring-time increase in smell from our sewage lagoon is certain to occur in May or June.

The smell need not to happen.  There is a simple solution that will keep the smell down to tolerable levels and make it virtually unnoticeable.

The solution is not very expensive, much cheaper than, say, the price of a new fire hall.  It has been brought to the attention of Town Council and individual members of Town Council a few times over the years, but no reaction or response has ever come forth from any member of the Town Council or from anyone in the Town Office.

To be fair, upon being asked about the limits of our sewage lagoon, there have been statements from the Town Office that our sewage lagoon is capable of digesting the additional load that the anticipated and hoped-for growth of the Bruderheim population without ill effects on the health and quality of life for the people living in Bruderheim.  Yet,  the offensive smell given off by our sewage lagoon when the water in our sewage lagoon turns over in the spring is often so bad that it becomes noticeable, often to the point of becoming intolerable, even inside the homes of Bruderheim residents.  The smell is likely to become worse as the years go by, unless something is done about it.

Bruderheim is not the first community in the world or even in Canada plagued by smells given off by a community’s sewage lagoon.  The science of effective waste-water management and treatment is well-established.

You may wish to consider the following search results, bring them to the attention of the Town Councillors and inform them that you wish them to use a small portion of our tax dollars to solve the problem with the offensive and increasingly objectionable smell of our sewage lagoon, before it becomes a serious and possibly deadly health issue.

“hydrogen sulphide” lagoon aeration - [1] Google Search

The first ten of 786 items on the search-return list:

1. [2] Norway House Cree Nation - Departments

“9 Mar 2010 … Hydrogen sulphide, which has a rotten egg odour, is formed in wastewaters that become [an]aerobic. Aerated Lagoon: A holding pond usually …”
www.nhcn.ca/publicworks.html

2. [3] Quality Pond Aeration

“Quality Pond Aeration. Windmill Aeration is a simple, natural solution to … bad due to gasses (like hydrogen sulphide) that are released into your pond. …”
www3.sympatico.ca/wind.mill/

3. [4] Dugout or Pond Aeration

“Superior Windmill aerators are perfect for dugout or pond aeration. … aeration removes the foul smelling hydrogen sulphide gas odor and prevents anoxia …”
www.superiorwindmill.com/promo/dugout_pond_aeration.html

4. [5] Fisheries :: Home

“Frequent exchange of water can prevent building up of hydrogen sulphide. … Aeration and increasing the pH of water by hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) …”
agritech.tnau.ac.in/fishery/fish_water.html

5. [6] Fisheries :: Home

“Aeration and water circulation are beneficial in improving bottom soil …”
agritech.tnau.ac.in/fishery/fish_soil.html

6. [7] Bio-Aeration Engineering, Inc. - Anaerobic Digestion

“Bio-Aeration Engineering, Inc. is an environmental company located in Evansville, Indiana. We specialize in the treatment of wastewater in lagoons, …”
www.bioaeration.com/anaerobic_digestion.html

7. [8] Natural Pond Aeration Facts - CLEAN-FLO

“Clean-Flo.com specializes in pond aeration systems which are a natural, … in the water including hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and methane. …”
www.clean-flo.com/articles/natural-pond-aeration-facts/

8. [9] Sewage treatment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“… 2) equipment corrosion due to methanogenesis and hydrogen sulphide, ….. Extended aeration package plants use separate basins for aeration and settling …. “Aerated Lagoons - Wastewater Treatment.” Maine Lagoon Systems Task Force. …”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewage_treatment

9. [10] Hailsham North Waste Site Odour Control - APPS

“By taking Hydrogen Sulphide measurements around the site it became apparent … short term running of the lagoon mixers allowing us to aerate these lagoons …”
www.appstechnologies.co.uk/index.php?section=case-studies&page=hailsham

10. [11] Aeration: the Facts, Aqua info, Technical Aquaculture information …

“Western Australian Aquaculture Information on Aeration the true facts. … such as hydrogen sulphide and ammonia, cannot pass through into the water above. …”
www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/aq/aq020/index.php?0404

The Fort Air Partnership monitoring station in Bruderheim (in the back alley, across from Night Moves) will not be of help in determining what the atmospheric H2S (hydrogen sulphide) levels are at any time in Bruderheim.  H2S is not being monitored by that station.

Here is [12] what is being measured at that monitoring station (select “Site 49: Bruderheim” — requires Internet Explorer).

H2S levels are being measured at the following continuous monitoring stations:

Site 43: Fort Saskatchewan
Site 44: Scottford 2
Site 45: Lamont County (north of Elk Island Park)

So, all you have to go by is your nose and hope that as long as you don’t smell the H2S that it may not be because your sense of smell has been overcome by potentially harmful levels of H2S.

By the way, as discussed on this blog before ([13] Temperature measurements for Fort Saskatchewan area, September 30, 2010), the “current” temperature shown on TV and on the [14] website of the Town of Bruderheim is not being measured in Bruderheim.  It is being measured in Elk Island National Park and is usually a couple degrees or so off.

Another measurement of the current Bruderheim temperature can be accessed at the Fort Air Partnership web page for the [15] Bruderheim monitoring station (select “Site 49: Bruderheim” — requires Internet Explorer).

Mind you, I would believe neither of those temperature values shown for Bruderheim.  Right now, the value shown by the Fort Air Partnership is -2°C, the one shown by The Weather Network is 3°C, while the thermometer in my backyard shows 1°C.