Water Canada: Wastewater Effluent Regs and FCM reaction

(Via: Water Canada) Feds Implement Wastewater Effluent Regs 
Posted on July 18, 2012

After over three years of discussion, including very public feedback the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, the federal government has announced that it will finally implement the national Wastewater System Effluent Regulations.

“We want water that is clean, safe, and plentiful for future generations of Canadians to enjoy,” said Minister of Environment Peter Kent this morning in Delta, British Columbia. “Through these regulations, we are addressing one of the largest sources of pollution in our waters. We’ve set the country’s first national standards for sewage treatment. These standards will reduce the levels of harmful substances deposited to surface water from wastewater systems in Canada.”

The feds worked with provinces and territories, and also engaged municipalities, to finalize these regulations. According to a release, it is expected that about 75 per cent of existing wastewater systems already meet the minimum secondary wastewater treatment standards in the regulations. Communities and municipalities that meet the standards will not need to make upgrades to their systems. The other 25 per cent will have to upgrade to at least secondary wastewater treatment.

EMC News: Brighter future for Tay River, Perth initiative is all about green

EMC News – The future of the Tay River looks brighter thanks to a three-pronged initiative by the Town of Perth that will lead to significant improvements in water quality over the next decade.

The town’s strategic plan, “Community Plan 2022,” includes specific initiatives over the next 10 years that will help remove contaminants entering the river from Perth’s water treatment plant and sewage lagoon, as well as run-off from storm sewers.

Some of the innovative solutions Perth will use to accomplish these goals should serve as a model for other small communities to follow, said Trish Johnson, senior environmental consultant with the town’s engineering consulting firm, R.V. Anderson Associates. “This integrated concept is really the kind of thing that makes a green community. They’re not only leading by example, they are actually challenging existing practices and creating new best practices.”

Ordered by the provincial Ministry of the Environment to begin treating waste water discharged from its water treatment plant, Perth was faced with the prospect of having to construct a multi-million dollar treatment plant. Instead, the town has chosen what Johnson described as a low cost, low-tech solution to the problem. This summer the town will call for bids to install a geotube to filter the water being discharged from the water treatment plant. The geotube, a textile membrane, will filter solids from the water before it is returned to the river. These solids include alum, a chemical used in the purification of drinking water.

Geotubes are already being used to treat sewage in other communities, including Eganville, but Perth will be the first municipality to use the technology to purify run-off from its water treatment plant, said Johnson.

The environmental consultant credits the town with having the vision to pursue this lower cost option rather than building an expensive treatment plant. With government grants for such projects no longer available, Johnson said, “I’m beginning to see the end of an era of big, shiny plants.”

Draft of Mississippi-Rideau Drinking Water Source Protection Plan released

From the website:

The Mississippi Valley Conservation and Rideau Valley Conservation Authority have developed draft policies to help keep contaminants out of rivers and groundwater where they are a source of municipal drinking water. Such preventative measures will help make municipal drinking water even safer. Review the draft policies and submit comments by May 4, 2012.

Policies can be found in the draft Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan. This Plan contains a series of voluntary and mandatory policies that encourage good stewardship, require additional oversight or risk reduction measures where necessary and prohibit certain activities from being established in the future. Funding is also available until December 1, 2012 to help property owners proactively address activities on their property that may be subject to these policies in the future.

View the Draft Plan:

Online at http://www.mrsourcewater.ca

At our Conservation Authority Offices:
Mississippi Valley Conservation – 4175 Highway 511, Lanark
Rideau Valley Conservation Authority – 3889 Rideau Valley Dr, Manotick

At our open houses (details below)
Request a DVD copy (contact information below)

Attend an Open House (all open houses are 4 pm to 8 pm)

April 19 – Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (3889 Rideau Valley Drive, Manotick)
April 24 – Carleton Place Arena (75 Neelin Street, Carleton Place)
April 26 – Smiths Falls Memorial Centre (75 Cornelia Street, Smiths Falls)

 Where Policies Would Apply

There are 11 locations in the Mississippi-Rideau region where rivers or groundwater are a source of municipal drinking water – these are the areas where policies will apply and funding is available:

•         Almonte
•         Carleton Place
•         Carp
•         Kemptville
•         Merrickville
•         Munster
•         Perth
•         Richmond
•         Smiths Falls
•         Urban Ottawa
•         Westport

 What Activities Policies Would Address

The following types of activities could be subject to policies in the areas listed above. These are activities that must be carefully managed near sources of drinking water to prevent contamination.

•         Waste disposal sites
•         Municipal sewage works
•         Septic systems
•         Pesticides
•         Commercial fertilizer
•         Nutrients (manure, biosolids, livestock)
•         Heating oil (furnace tanks)
•         Liquid fuel (gas stations, yard tanks)
•         Road salt and snow storage
•         Chemicals (DNAPLs and organic solvents)

More information:     Sommer Casgrain-Robertson,
Co-Project Manager, Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region

613-692-3571 or 1-800-267-3504 ext 1147
sommer.robertson@mrsourcewater.ca
www.mrsourcewater.ca

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson asks for Gatineau’s cooperation in preventing sewage overflows

Via Ottawa Citizen, March 5, 2012

by Mark Brownlee

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson will be looking for “co-operation” from Gatineau to address sewage overflows in the Ottawa River as part of discussions planned for later this year.

Sewage ends up in the river when the pipes underneath both cities can’t handle the overflow that results from a rain storm or snow melt. The City of Ottawa has allocated millions of dollars on a solution, but Gatineau is just now taking the first steps toward a similar plan.

College ward Councillor Rick Chiarelli recently called on Gatineau to spend more money to prevent sewage from flowing into the river, raising the question of how best to get the multiple governments responsible for the river to reach an agreement on cleaning it up.

Watson has already raised the issue with Gatineau Mayor Marc Bureau, wrote Bruce Graham, Watson’s spokesman, in an email. He expects they will meet sometime later this year for a “more thorough discussion,” but they haven’t yet set a specific date.

“It’s clear that we will require both sides of the river to work in co-operation if the cleanup is going to be successful,” Graham wrote.

Ottawa plans to deal with the issue by spending $150 million to build huge underground storage tanks that will keep sewage-tainted rainwater from entering the river.

Gatineau, however, is just now installing the infrastructure that will allow it to monitor the amount of sewage it is sending into the body of water. It is testing equipment at 13 of 92 points where pipes enter the river, which officials will then install at all of the points if the experiment is successful.

The monitoring is an important first step in solving the problem, said Meredith Brown, executive director of the environmental charity the Ottawa Riverkeeper, in a recent interview. But Gatineau still has a long way to go in stemming the overflows, she said, noting that Ottawa publicly releases information about how much sewage enters the river during each overflow.

The National Capital Commission should be doing more to bring the municipalities together to address the issue, she added.

Section 10 of the law that explains the NCC’s mandate, the National Capital Act, gives it the power to “engage” with local municipalities for the “improvement, development or maintenance of property” in the region.

But the NCC doesn’t appear to be willing to take the invitation.

“The NCC has no jurisdiction and the question of the cities budget and ongoing negotiations for cleaning the river should be directed to them,” wrote Mario Tremblay, its spokesman, in an email.

Aging pipe systems in both municipalities that were originally designed to hold both water and household waste are to blame for the sewage issue. Whenever there is too much water in the system the pipes are designed to release both into the river.

Ottawa still experiences overflows despite the money they’ve spent. The poor water quality that results regularly forces the city to close beaches, for example.

mbrownlee@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/markbrownleeott

Educating the masses: Global Water Intelligence Insight

via: Global Water Intelligence GWI Briefing, 24Nov2011

Educating the masses

The voting down of two municipal outsourcing contracts in the US and Canada this week should not be seen as a victory for the anti-private water brigade. The fact that both projects would have been deliverable for less money using private sector expertise means that municipal leaders simply have to get smarter about educating their voters – and their councilmembers.

The outcome of last Saturday’s referendum in Abbotsford, British Columbia, means that the Can$291 million (US$279 million) design-build-finance-operate project for a 150,000m³/d water treatment plant at Stave Lake – which had been eligible for Can$62 million (US$59 million) of federal funding – will now not proceed as a public-private partnership. The project would cost as much as Can$328 million (US$315 million) under traditional procurement.

Similarly, the decision to reject SouthWest Water’s low bid to operate the new 37,850m³/d surface water treatment plant serving the city of Lodi in California will end up costing the city an extra $90,000 every year.

The success of the Canadian PPP programme has to some extent relied on the fact that the majority of projects have been in sectors such as healthcare, roads and transportation – all of which are controlled at the provincial level. The fact that water and wastewater are under municipal control means that not only are there relatively few precedents in terms of completed PPP projects, but also that the fate of each initiative ultimately lies in the hands of the voters.

Although the outcome of the referendum in Abbotsford is a setback for private water in Canada, it should not be seen as a reaction against private water per se. All projects – irrespective of the sector they fall into – will inevitably generate some form of opposition, and the challenge for municipalities is to get the voters on side to the extent that when the time comes to vote, the result is a fair decision taken by an educated electorate.

Dwelling on private water operators’ imperfect track records – which sowed the initial seeds of doubt in the minds of the authorities in Lodi – is one of the easiest ways to alienate voters. Fears over tariff increases and job security for unionised labourers are also grist to the municipal mill. It seems they do not see the bigger picture. Canada’s public sector pension funds are some of the biggest investors in global infrastructure. Rejecting bankable PPP projects now could come back to haunt dissenting voters in retirement.

This week’s columnist is Ian Elkins, GWI’s editor.

CD Howe: Threats to Groundwater Supplies in Canada Require Coordinated Response

Threats to Groundwater Supplies in Canada Require Coordinated Response: C.D. Howe Institute

TORONTO, Feb. 10 /CNW/

– Better oversight of Canada’s groundwater resources is required in the face of numerous challenges, according to a study released today by the C.D. Howe Institute.

In ” Protecting Groundwater: The Invisible and Vital Resource, ” James Bruce, recently chair of the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Groundwater, assesses present and emerging threats and makes recommendations for better groundwater management in Canada.
———————————-
Challenges for groundwater management, the author says, include energy issues, such as the uncertain impact of shale gas “fracking,” slow recharge rates of aquifers, agricultural intensification, and contamination. Canada has yet to experience large-scale over-exploitation of groundwater resources and its groundwater remains of good quality.

Bruce says the time is right, however, for establishing the legal, regulatory and management systems, along with the necessary monitoring provisions, to overcome the threats to groundwater.

Nearly 10 million Canadians, including about 80 percent of the rural population and many small- to medium-sized municipalities, rely on groundwater for their everyday needs. However, Canadians living in large cities and most policymakers tend to ignore groundwater and its management. This asymmetry of interests has resulted in fragmented knowledge of groundwater locations, their quantity, quality, and how groundwater supplies are changing over time in Canada.

Bruce says an effective groundwater management strategy would adhere to five major principles for sustainability. They are: protection from depletion; protection from contamination; ecosystem viability; allocation to maximize groundwater’s contribution to social and economic well-being; and the application of good governance.

Given the challenges that lie ahead, the author concludes, meaningful cooperation by three levels of government, as well as prices that better match the costs of delivering water and wastewater services, and an expansion in data collection efforts are required to sustainably manage Canada’s groundwater.

For the study go to: http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/Backgrounder_136.pdf

For further information:
James P. Bruce, Former Chair, Council of
Canadian Academies Expert Panel on
Groundwater;
Colin Busby, Senior Policy Analyst,

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Water act excludes Mother Nature [Ontario]

November 5, 2009

Funding blocked after Peterborough discovers most water pollution caused by Canada geese not agriculture

by BRIAN LOCKHART

Peterborough’s goose poop problem has revealed that clean water legislation, intended to keep agricultural and other waste out of waterways, ignores the effects of Mother Nature.

A flock of Canada geese that has taken up residence several hundred metres north of the city’s water intake pipes has created a mess that was initially blamed on agricultural activity several miles upstream.

A Peterborough Public Utilities Commission study in 2006, however, determined that 68 per cent of the E. coli bacteria entering the raw water supply came from goose droppings.

When the city applied for funding under the Ontario drinking water stewardship program to control the pesky birds however, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) turned it down. Apparently it doesn’t meet the criteria of the Clean Water Act.

Threats, as defined in the Clean Water Act 2006, are land use activities which correspond to land uses within the Planning Act or conditions that result from activities, says Heather Malcolmson, MOE manager of source protection planning. Past activity land use is also considered.

“The Act is set out to provide tools,” she says. “The Stewardship Funding Program is enabled within the Act.”

Malcolmson says Peterborough’s problem falls “out of the scope” of the Act. She suggests the city look for funding elsewhere in the province.

The Trent Conservation Source Protection Region supported the city’s application to the Ministry. They requested that one of the Act’s technical rules be revised to include “discharge of avian feces to surface water” as a local threat. They also wanted “congregation of waterfowl upstream of an intake” as a circumstance.

“It’s our mandate to work with source protection and municipalities are among our stake holders.” explains Glenda Rogers, Trent Conservation Project Manager. “You have to make local requests. In this situation the geese are very close to the water intake.”

The ministry denied the request in an October 23, 2009 letter signed by Ian Smith, director of the ministry’s source protection programs branch.

Jack Sisson, curator of the 60-acre Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough where the birds have decided to call home, says goose numbers have been increasing over the past 10 years, ranging from 20 to 60, depending on the day.

“We have a company that comes to scare the geese away, but it doesn’t alleviate the problem for good,” he says.

Sisson says Lakefield, about 15 kilometres north of Peterborough, has the same problem.

Jane Lewington, spokesperson for Conservation Ontario, a network of 36 conservation authorities, says she’s not aware of similar problems in other municipalities. BF

Toronto water has drug-resistant bacteria

Bacteria resistant to some antibiotics have been found in Toronto tap water, a University of Michigan scientist says.

The water remains safe to drink, he said, but the finding raises the possibility that disease-causing bacteria will pick up the resistance genes.

In the United States, researchers have found bacteria that have evolved to become resistant to some antibiotics in some municipal water supplies.

At his lab in Ann Arbor, Mich., microbiologist Prof. Chuanwu Xi showed a stack of petri dishes, some filled with yellow dots of bacteria that should have been killed off by antibiotics. The source of the bacteria was drinking water from several communities in Ohio and Michigan.

“In tap water in Toronto, there’s antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” Xi said, after testing water samples provided by CBC News.

The researchers don’t know what kinds of bacteria they’ve found, just that they can’t be killed by antibiotics.

But most bacteria in the environment are not the kinds that cause human disease, so the water is safe to drink, the researchers said.

The real concern is the genetic pollution created by antibiotic-resistant genes circulating in the environment, and the risk that human pathogens will pick up those resistant genes, said Gerry Wright, a researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Bacteria “have this remarkable ability to take up drug-resistance genes from their neighbours,” Wright said. “In some cases, they can collect dozens of drug-resistance genes and incorporate them into their genomes. It’s really quite astounding.”

Since overuse of antibiotics helps fuel drug-resistant bugs, public health officials continue to fear they may run out of options to treat human infections, he said.

Julianna Cummins, National Post
Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

CWT : Kensington Becomes Canada’s First Community with Wind-Powered Wastewater Treatment

Residents of Kensington, P.E.I. will soon have an energy-efficient wastewater treatment thanks to the purchase of a wind turbine.

The turbine, funded in part by the Canada-Prince Edward Island Gas Tax Agreement, will generate environmentally sustainable electricity for the Kensington wastewater treatment plant. The turbine, constructed in late spring 2009, was the first municipally-owned turbine to be erected in the province and, according to Kensington officials, they are the first community in Canada with a wind-powered wastewater utility.

Funding of $265,000 was provided by the Canada-Prince Edward Island Gas Tax Agreement for the purchase of the wind turbine. Total project costs amounted to $531,000, with the balance funded by the Town of Kensington.

Source:  Canadian Water Treatment

Corix Water Systems Awarded Contract for Wastewater Treatment System for Dawson City

Dawson sewage plant construction starts with sod-turning
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Politicians and government bureaucrats gathered Tuesday morning in Dawson City, Yukon, to officially kick off construction of a much-needed sewage treatment plant.

The territorial government awarded Corix Water Systems of Vancouver a $25-million construction contract last week for the facility, which the government is required to build under a 2003 territorial court order.

That order was imposed after Dawson was fined for dumping raw sewage into the Yukon River.

Tuesday’s sod-turning event in Dawson was more than a symbolic gesture, government project manager Catherine Harwood told CBC News.

“With a project this size and importance, marking a significant milestone was a good idea. So we’re on the way to providing a solution to Dawson’s wastewater treatment needs and complying with the court’s expectations,” she said.

“We won’t see anything on the site for a couple of months while we start the permitting process. And then there’ll be a test hole drilled, sometime later in the summer or early in the fall, to log the stratigraphy of the ground where the deep shafts will be drilled next year.”

The wastewater treatment system calls for two deep shaft wells to be drilled 100 metres below the surface.

The new plant will be constructed in downtown Dawson City at the site of the town’s current screening plant.