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Water and Wastewater

February 7, 2012

York Region, Ontario approves subway construction expenditures

The Regional Municipality of York, which is the upper level of municipal government for cities and towns immediately north of Toronto, recently approved a capital budget that includes $332.2 million for rapid transit construction projects.

February 7, 2012

Environmental assessment underway for Niagara, Ontario wastewater plant construction

The Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario announced a public information centre is scheduled February 8 for the possible construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

February 2, 2012

Ontario should review Municipal Class Environmental Assessment criteria: Report

A review of Ontario’s Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) concluded that the province should review certain criteria that will help determine projects likely to have fewer rather than larger environmental impacts. The report, by environmental lawyer Frank Zechner, was commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO)

January 25, 2012

British Columbia wastewater plant gets $8.1 million from federal gas tax

Wastewater treatment for Abbotsford, Mission, Sumas and Langley, British Columbia will receive a substantial upgrade with $8.1 million from Canada’s Gas Tax Fund.

January 19, 2012

Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association lauds Toronto 2012 water rate change

As Toronto politicians, labour leaders and pundits argue over the city’s tax-supported proposed budget the head of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA) is praising city council for approving a nine per cent increase in water rates.

January 16, 2012

Cornwall, Ontario invites bids for wastewater plant construction

The City of Cornwall, Ontario is taking bids for a construction project at its wastewater treatment facility. Bids are due February 14 and an information session is scheduled Jan. 18.

December 15, 2011

Niagara Region working on water, wastewater improvement for Port Colborne, Ontario

The Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario has initiated an environmental assessment to identify alternatives for providing water and wastewater service to the city of Port Colborne, where the region has identified supply security concerns on the east side of the Welland Canal. Concerns include a single watermain crossing the Welland Canal to service the east side of the city.

November 18, 2011

Federal Gas Tax Fund helps build New Brunswick wastewater

The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is supporting wastewater treatment systems in New Brunswick.

November 17, 2011

Cambridge, Ontario to use Green Municipal Fund grant for sustainable community plan

The City of Cambridge, Ontario announced this week it has received a $60,800 grant from the Green Municipal Fund, administered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Cambridge will spend its grant on a sustainable community plan, which is intended as a process that would generate an action plan to address energy, transportation, water, waste and brownfields.

November 14, 2011

Niagara Region starts environmental assessment for possible upgrades to St. Catharines, Ontario wastewater treatment facility

The Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario has initiated a Class Environmental Assessment to evaluate options for the Port Weller wastewater treatment plant in the City of St. Catharines. A recommended design concept includes upgrading the existing facility to provide high rate treatment of wet weather flows, which the region requires to comply with the Ontario Ministry of Environment guidelines on treatment of sewage discharged to surface waters.

June 24, 2011

Veolia Canada provides consulting for wastewater plants in Winnipeg

Under a 30-year consulting contract, Veolia Canada will provide advice and expertise regarding the operation and maintenance of Winnipeg water pollution control centres. A new biosolids plant will be used to convert treated sewage into either compost or agricultural fertilizer and may also be converted to pellets that can be burned to generate electricity.

June 24, 2011

Bennett Contracting works on reservoir, pumping station expansion in Mississauga, Ontario

The 40-year-old Streetsville Reservoir and Pumping Station in Mississauga, Ontario is receiving a major overhaul. Millgrove, Ontario-based Bennett Contracting is the general contractor in charge of the $16 million first phase.

June 24, 2011

Genivar engineer compiles history of Thunder Bay, Ontario water supply tunnel

Larry Betuzzi, structural engineer with Genivar, did extensive research on the Loch Lomond Water Supply System, originally started by the city of Fort William in 1906 and decommissioned by its successor City of Thunder Bay, Ontario in 2007.

June 24, 2011

Peat filter system treats sewage at Milton, Ontario community centre

The Campbellville Community Centre & Nassagaweya Tennis Courts Redevelopment in Milton, Ontario does not have access to a sewer, so Slagter Construction was contracted to install an EcoFlo Peat Filter System. The community centre itself was designed by +VG Architects and built by general contractor DeFaveri Construction.

June 24, 2011

Aquatech Dewatering drains tailrace section of dam on Abitibi River in Ontario

Ontario Power Generation hired Barclay Construction Group to remediate concrete at the Abitibi Canyon Generating Station near Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario. Barclay in turn hired Aquatech Dewatering Co. of Concord, Ontario to drain the tailrace section.

June 24, 2011

How the Lakeview Water Treatment Plant in Mississauga, Ontario will save space

A new 41,519-square-foot, 400 mega litres-per-day Lakeview Water Treatment plant is now under construction in Mississauga, Ontario. Kenaidan Contracting is the general contractor and CH2M Hill is the consultant on the project, which will use a combination of ozonation, ultrafiltration (UF) and ultraviolet (UV) technology.

June 24, 2011

Procurement alliances will be key to securing water work, C.D. Howe Institute report finds

Contractors who want to be part of addressing Canada’s massive sewer and water infrastructure deficit need to align themselves with consortiums capable of delivering design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) contracts and to become active in promoting policies that will see such contracts become commonplace, says Elizabeth Brubaker, executive director of Environment Probe. Brubaker wrote a report titled A Bridge Over Troubled Waters for the C.D. Howe Institute.

June 24, 2011

Mueller Water Products’ Echologics unit detects leaks in water pipes

A Canadian company has developed a leak-detection and water pipe-condition assessment technology that’s making its mark across North America.

June 24, 2011

Aqua-Pure Ventures of Calgary honoured for work in fracturing shale deposits for natural gas

Calgary-based Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc. has been chosen by The Artemis Project as a 2011 Top 50 Water Companies Competition winner, for its work in recycling water used to hydraulically fracture shale deposits to release natural gas in the North Texas Barnett Shale. Aqua-Pure supplies Nomad 2000 units to distill the water using mechanical vapour recompression (MVR), separating contaminants from the effluent.

June 24, 2011

Xogen technology aims to eliminate biosolids in wastewater treatment in Orangeville, Ontario

After first introducing its innovative wastewater treatment concept to the Town of Orangeville, Ontario in 2009, Xogen and its pilot project are up and running and treating 1,800 litres of wastewater per hour. Xogen is an electrolytic process that not only aims to eliminate biosolids, but also requires a much smaller facilities footprint than conventional treatment approaches.

June 24, 2011

Newfoundland agency in talks with NATO on use of water quality monitoring technology

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is currently in talks with the Water Resources Management Division (WRMD) of Newfoundland and Labrador to use its water monitoring technology to monitor the Dead Sea and the Jordan River in the Middle East. WRMD transmits data from sensors, which measure factors including temperature, pH level, turbidity, specific conductance and dissolved oxygen, via satellite.