Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Microplastics (defined as any plastic particle <5mm) are a growing problem in freshwater systems acrossx000D
Canada and include plastic fibres from clothing, the breakdown of larger plastic fragments, and microbeadsx000D
found in cosmetics and personal care items. Microplastics have recently been found in the Ottawa River but wex000D
don't know the main pathways that plastics are getting into the river. The goals of this study are to determinex000D
the amount and types of microplastics that are entering the City of Gatineau's wastewater treatment plant and tox000D
assess how much of this microplastic is removed through the water treatment process and how much is makingx000D
it into the river. By sampling wastewater and sludge throughout the treatment process and analyzing thesex000D
samples for the amounts and types of plastic we will be able to determine how much and what types ofx000D
microplastics the wastewater treatment plant is effectively removing. This project will help the wastewaterx000D
plant better manage the microplastic coming through the systems and help wastewater treatment plants acrossx000D
Canada better understand the sources of microplastics and where they are removed during the wastewaterx000D
treatment process. This information is important to help keep plastic pollution out of our freshwaterx000D
ecosystems.