I have worked for the City of Calgary in the wastewater industry for nearly 24 years, and I would like to clarify a few points around the discussion of garburators and their impact on wastewater.
It’s true that The City of Calgary uses bionutrients in wastewater to produce fertilizer for farmers fields, but this is not an easy process, and the end product has a limited use because of pollutants in the mixture from heavy industry. Storage space for these nutrients is an issue for Calgary, and it also needs to be trucked. As The city grows, fields available to receive bionutrients become further and further away, taking more time to dispose of them and causing increased vehicle emissions. Breaking down the nutrients in digesters also produces methane gas. Although some gas is recovered and used for plant power, it can’t all be used. Some must be burned into the atmosphere. This is another issue for Calgary as it tries to reduce emissions. Throwing food waste into the water just so someone else can clean it out comes with an enormous cost.
The City of Calgary is currently in the process of adding green cart recycling to steer bionutrients away from landfill and the sewer system. Advocating for garburators would be a move in the opposite direction. Although I don’t see garburators as a huge issue, promoting their use, and saying they’re ‘good’ for wastewater treatment in Calgary is false. If everyone started using them, they would certainly have a negative impact. The Bonnybrook plant alone is in the midst of more than a billion dollars worth of upgrades required to deal with the increased loading to the plant over the past 20 years. Adding more unnecessary waste to the water would not help.
Although I don’t personally feel that garburators need to be banned here, I’m not a fan of them. I believe however, that people should be educated in the choices they make. Choosing to use a garburator may have a small impact but it is still a negative one. It is far better to do backyard composting, which is one of the easiest recycling processes around.
Sandra Germaine-Kotch
