Engineered Wetlands

Appleton-Middleton Engineered Wetland Photo: www.abydoz.com

When the aging sewage treatment plants needed upgrades in the towns of Appleton and Glenwood in Newfoundland and Labrador, they took an innovative approach to improving stormwater and sewage treatment by implementing an engineered wetland. The towns were concerned  the quality of discharge that was entering the Gander River which was not meeting Provincial or Federal standards and about the increasing maintenance costs required by the older systems.


The newly constructed engineered wetland provides secondary treatment of wastewater, is cost-effective and has greatly improved the water quality discharged into the Gander River. This project was the Atlantic winner of the Watershed Awards, which recognizes community climate change adaptation efforts and is awarded by Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Check out this great video to see how the engineered wetland works. Video provided by the Insurance Bureau of Canada.