Piped Sewage
Piped sewage from the City flows by gravity to one of eleven (11) lift stations and ultimately ends up in either the Kam Lake lift station (No.5) by the City Garage or lift station (No.6) at Bagon Drive/Balsillie Crt. Sewage from Lift Stations No. 5 and No. 6 is then pumped through a forcemain to the Fiddlers lagoon system.
Trucked Sewage
Trucked sewage is hauled by the local contractor to either of two dump points, located at Lift Station No. 1 at Franklin Ave./School Draw Ave. or uphill of Lift Station No. 5 by the City Garage, and pumped into the piped sewage system.
Bagged Sewage
As of fall 2011 the City of Yellowknife is no longer providing "honey bags" service. House boaters and residences along the Ingram Trail that still use honey bags are responsible to drop off their waste in accordance with the City's policies and procedures. The bin located at the landfill is currently used to accept dog feces and honey bags which is taken to the honey bag disposal site near Highway No. 3 by the west end of the sewage lagoon. As of June 30, 2009 there is no public access to the honey bag disposal site.
The sewage system consists of:
- Lagoon wetland treatment system;
- 11 lift stations;
- 12.4 km of force main; and
- 50.3 km of gravity main.
The current lagoon was constructed in 1981 and raised to the current elevation in 1987. Sewage treatment is accomplished naturally in the lagoon itself and in the downstream watercourse / wetlands. The lagoon currently provides approximately 9 months of detention time. It is operated by the City as follows:
- Discharge of the entire lagoon's contents to the downstream catchment over a 10-12 week period in the fall, beginning in early September and ending in late November.
- Sewage retention in the lagoon through the rest of the year; there is no discharge from the lagoon over this period.
The lagoon's effluent is discharged into what is known as the "Fiddlers Drainage Area". Effluent leaving the Yellowknife sewage lagoon flows through approximately 13 km of wetlands area before reaching Great Slave Lake. The wetlands are a mixture of organic and sandy materials which have an ability to provide further treatment of the effluent from the lagoon.
The Public Works and Engineering Department is responsible for the maintenance of the sewer system, the storm sewer system, lift stations, and the sewage lagoons.