18-Env-B5 Industrial & Hazardous Waste Management · December 2016
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
Reference texts: Nemerow & Dasgupta, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment, 2nd ed.; Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery, 5th ed.; Davis & Cornwell, Introduction to Environmental Engineering, 6th ed.; LaGrega, Buckingham & Evans, Hazardous Waste Management, 2nd ed.; CCME, Guidelines for the Management of Biomedical Waste in Canada (1992); Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes (1989); Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulations on radioactive waste; provincial hazardous waste regulations (e.g. BC's Environmental Management Act and Hazardous Waste Regulation).
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
Municipalities control industrial discharges to their sewer system primarily through a sewer-use bylaw that sets numeric prohibited-discharge and maximum-concentration limits (flammables, corrosives, and concentration ceilings for BOD5/TSS/metals/etc.), combined with an industrial pretreatment/discharge permit program requiring individual industries above a threshold to obtain a permit, self-monitor and report. Compliance is enforced through inspections, independent sampling, and a surcharge fee structure that charges dischargers above a baseline concentration for the extra treatment cost their loading imposes on the municipal plant — a financial disincentive to over-load the sewer rather than pretreat on-site. Where a discharge cannot meet bylaw limits even with a surcharge, the municipality can require mandatory pretreatment before connection, or refuse/limit the connection outright.
