Edmonton hosted three provinces at WCW&WA Conference

Photo Report by Tom Davey

The ultra modern glass architecture of the spectacular Shaw Centre, gives little indication of the depth and scale of the conference and tradeshow area. Conference photos - ES&E

Flying across the Prairie Provinces is always a spectacular reminder of the vastness of the unique land mass that is Canada. Even at 500 mph, the flat terrain of the Prairies seems endless. From 40,000 feet up, the huge fields below seem to have been laid out in square miles with military precision, redolent of a gigantic floor tiled in marble. Light dustings of snow enable subdued colours of diverse crops to show through, giving a range of hues and patterns again reminiscent of huge square tiles.

Over Alberta, the terrain changes from mile to quarter mile squares ­ Albertans measure farms by the number of quarters - and the flat landscape gives way to an undulating mix of forests, farms and finally the bustling oil rich city of Edmonton. I marvel once again, at the sheer scale of the unfolding landscape and am struck by the fact that this huge area is serviced by the Western Canada Water & Wastewater Association whose annual conference I was attending. Huge land mass, small population, huge responsibilities.

Debarking from the plane I saw Winnipeg's Bill Borlase who was waiting to pick up the Water Environment Federation's President Elect, flying to the conference from Texas. Bill kindly offered me a lift and I rode to Edmonton in style with Robert McMillon and his wife to the Westin Hotel, with the tradeshow and most seminars to be held at the Shaw Convention Centre. The Centre is a unique glass and steel building which drops steeply down the edge of a cliff overlooking the North Saskatchewan River to reveal several huge areas of tradeshow, seminar rooms and banquet facilities. Some 500 delegates attended the conference where 65 technical and operations' papers were presented.

Water conservation strategies were part of the pre-conference workshops on Sunday with presenters quite literally, and surprisingly, sharing experiences from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was generally admitted that the water industry had done a poor job of informing the public about the value and pricing of safe drinking water. One valuable case history was particularly encouraging. If school boards and teachers become involved, field trips to water plants can become part of the official curriculum and teachers become enthusiastic about the environment and water treatment. Discussions showing various water usage predictions based on engineering studies, were also combined with case histories showing ways consumption had been reduced through media and public awareness campaigns.

Top photo (left to right): Bill Borlase, P.Eng., Linda Blankenship, PE, and WEF President Elect Robert McMillon. Bill is currently the only Canadian elected to the WEF Executive Committee. Linda is Deputy Director, WEF Development/Subscriber Services. The President Elect represented WEF and also gave a paper on biosolids. Middle photo: Deborah Smith, St. John's, Newfoundland, spoke on water conservation issues. Bottom photo: Pipe Tapping contest underway.

An intriguing look at how sleep can affect water treatment operations was given by Stephen Poole, Epcor Water Services Inc., in his paper: Sleep well, live well, work well. His paper introduced the concept that the quality of sleep is critically important to both quality of life and effectiveness at work. Water and wastewater utilities provide service to their customers on a 24 hour, seven day week basis. Larger utilities meet this demand with 24 hour staffing in critical areas, using a rotating shift schedule. Smaller utilities may use extended hours, or standby and call-out systems. Rotating shifts, extended work days, and call-outs all have the potential to disrupt the normal cycle of sleeping and waking.

"In both our work and private lives, time is a precious commodity. Sleep is undervalued in our society, and most of us deal with scheduling problems by cheating on sleep," he said. Sleep-related problems can have significant negative effects on our work and our private lives, and for many of us the problem cannot be completely eliminated. A more complete version of his paper is published elsewhere in this issue.

On the opening day, the WEF President Elect Robert McMillon not only performed his official duties but later gave a paper on biosolids experiences in Texas, showing how his plant had turned once expensive liabilities into profitable and environmentally beneficial experiences. His presentation provoked some vigorous discussions when he fielded questions with enthusiasm and clearly relished the ensuing debate.

In her paper Facing the Drought - Victoria's Strategy, Deborah Walker, Capital Regional District, BC, outlined a range of water conservation initiatives. She said: "The Capital Region draws all of its supply from above ground reservoirs, primarily from the Sooke Reservoir, which has a capacity of 12 billion gallons. Our delivery capacity is approximately 100 MIGD. The Goldstream Reservoir serves as our back-up and has a capacity of 2.2 billion gallons," she said.

"The Victoria area depends on rainfall to fill our reservoirs. While we normally get about 1,210 mm (48") of rain during the winter months, this past winter's rainfall was about half of what we normally receive - the lowest rainfall since 1900. This lack of rainfall dropped our reservoir levels by over 30% from the normal. This shortfall placed us in a serious water shortage situation."

Major awards presented at the conference were:

H.M. Bailey Award - Les Gammie

H.C. Lindsten Award - Don Burgess

Al Reimer Award - Frank Wetsch

Laboratory Excellence Award - Glen Brown

Hatfield Award - C.P. Hwang

A Pipe Tapping Contest took place within the tradeshow area with the City of Red Deer coming first. EPCOR East took second place, EPCOR West came in third, City of Regina was fourth, with the Celebrity Team finishing in fifth place. EPCOR East and West teams were formed by staff formerly based at east and west maintenance yards.

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