MAGNA Biofilter Wetland System

Aging lagoons. Tightening effluent regulations. A shrinking pool of certified operators. Capital budgets that haven't moved at the same pace as any of it. For many municipalities, the answer on the table is a mechanical treatment plant they realistically can't afford to build or staff.

There's another option.

The MBWS®:
A Different Kind of Wastewater System

The MAGNA Biofilter Wetland System (MBWS®) is a patent-pending, nature-based treatment technology. It uses specially selected media, plants, and the natural microbial processes already at work in healthy ecosystems. The best part? It’s designed and scaled to meet your community's discharge requirements.

What this means for your community

  • Lower capital cost: than equivalent mechanical treatment

  • Lower operator class required: Current MBWS® facilities are operating as Class I Facilities

  • No chemicals, low energy: The system runs largely on biology, not infrastructure

  • Build in stages: Scale the system as your community grows, not all at once

  • Built for Canadian climates: Proven operation down to -40°C

Clearwater County, Alberta

$15M in Capital Cost savings, Class I Status Maintained

The situation: Clearwater County's existing lagoon system, serving roughly 3,000 residents in Leslieville, was no longer meeting regulatory requirements. The proposed mechanical treatment facility came with a capital cost the County and its tax base could not realistically absorb, and would have required a higher operator class to run.

How MAGNA helped: MAGNA adapted the nature-based technology developed for its MAGNA Stormpark™ designs into a subsurface wetland treatment system engineered for Alberta winters. The result was a facility that delivered the required effluent quality, while keeping the operational class and the long-term staffing burden low.

The outcome:

  • $15M reduction in capital cost compared to the proposed mechanical facility

  • Class I operational status maintained

  • Lower lifecycle costs for the County

  • Reliable operation in temperatures down to -40°C

Curious about what this could look like for your community?

Book a 20 Minute Call.

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Adaptable to your site and your constraints

The situation: The City of Prince Rupert came to MAGNA with a difficult situation: no existing wastewater treatment, with direct discharge into the Pacific Ocean, and a proposed mechanical solution that was both too costly and visually incompatible with the coastline. The original site presented with a further challenge: sensitive bird and fish habitats.

How MAGNA helped: MAGNA worked with the City to select an alternative location and adapted the MBWS® design to integrate with the site’s existing bedrock. The resulting modular system will allow Prince Rupert to deploy multiple MBWS® facilities across underutilized public land and prevent untreated discharge into the ocean while preserving the coastline.

The takeaway: The MBWS® isn't a single fixed design. It adapts to your geography, your site constraints, and your community's priorities.

Is the MBWS® right for your community?

If two or more of these sound familiar, it’s worth a conversation.

  • Your community has a population of less than 10,000 residents

  • Your lagoon system is aging or out of compliance

  • New effluent discharge regulations are tightening

  • A mechanical treatment plant has been proposed, and the capital cost is a non-starter for council or the tax base

  • You're struggling to recruit or retain certified operators

  • You need a solution that's defensible to taxpayers and re-election-friendly for council

  • Your community values sustainability and wants infrastructure that reflects that

Let's Talk about Your Community

A 20 minute discovery call is the fastest way to find out whether the MBWS could work for you. There's no deck, no pitch. Just a conversation about your community, your wastewater situation, your constraints, and whether the MBWS might fit.

If it doesn't we'll tell you.