Canwest Tanks manufactures various sewage treatment systems using activated sludge with aeration and suspended or attached growth media technology. Wastewater treatment plants of this type work by utilizing the microorganisms naturally occurring in wastewater to form colonies (biomass) which can grow suspended in the liquid or attached to a growth media in the reactor chamber.

By infusing air (oxygen) into the liquid, these microorganisms (aerobes) multiply at an accelerated rate, resulting in larger than normal populations of aerobes in the environment, causing an increased amount of nutrients to be digested. This process lowers the BOD and is continuous for as long as the reactor chamber is supplied with nutrients and oxygen. In addition to rapid absorption of the nutrients, the increased biomass contributes to better breakdown of solids resulting in lower total suspended solids (TSS).

The Whitewater® and ECOPOD systems were approved by the Ministry of Health, Public Health Protection Branch in 1994. Canwest Tanks began manufacturing them in 1996. Canwest has manufactured and sold more than 6,000 units in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and parts of the US.

The BC Ministry of Health, Sewage System Standard Practice Manual (SPM) lists 3 types of systems approved for the disposal of domestic waste: