Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - June 2004
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Environmental News Items, June 2004
Golf courses swallow up lots of water
The Canadian Bottled Water Association wants golf courses,
farmers and municipalities to pay for taking water from Ontario’s
lakes and rivers.
Representing 56 companies who bottle water in Canada, 20 of
them in Ontario, the association supports proposed provincial
legislation that would charge companies that take water out of
Ontario’s watershed, but it wants all users to pay.
“If such charges are imposed, we believe they should be fair
and applied to all who use water,” spokesman Larry Brookes said.
Currently, companies such as water bottlers who take more
than 50 cubic metres of water a day don’t have to pay for it, as
long as they have a permit. There are about 5,300 water-taking
permits allowing companies to take about 160 billion litres of
water a day. But that number is just an estimate because the government
cannot track how much water is actually being taken.
Proposed legislation aims to change all that. The first part,
dealing with regulation should now be in place. The second and
third parts of legislative proposals involving permits and levies,
are to be introduced later this year.
Ontario’s 650 golf courses use 81 times more water than bottlers,
according to an Association spokesperson.
Siemens purchases
USFilter’s systems and
services businesses
Veolia Environment recently announced
the sale of USFilter's systems
and services businesses to Siemens for
US $993 million. The transaction is
expected to close during the third quarter
of 2004, following approval by the
applicable antitrust authorities.
Within the USFilter systems businesses
being sold by Veolia
Environment to Siemens are many of
the water treatment market's most recognized
brand names, including
Memcor, Envirex, Wallace & Tiernan
and General Filter. In November 2003,
Veolia Environment sold its Everpure
business to Pentair.
As of June 30, Veolia Environment
was in the process of selling Culligan.
Veolia is retaining its Operating
Services, Engineering & Construction
businesses (now known as Veolia
Water North America or VWNA) as
well as Kruger, John Meunier, and HPD.
For further information, visit
www.USFILTER.com.
ADI and Indachem sign
distribution agreement
ADI International Inc. and Indachem
Inc. have recently signed a distribution
agreement which allows Indachem to
add ADI’s Media G2® arsenic removal
systems and Sulfa-Bind gas scrubbing
equipment to its product line for distribution
in Ontario. This agreement
makes Indachem ADI’s first Canadian
representative.
Media G2 is a patented filter media
used for the removal of arsenic from
drinking water. Sulfa-Bind is a new
patented adsorption technology for the
removal of hydrogen sulfide from gas
and contaminated air streams.
For further information, contact
Eric Winchester, ADI International
Inc., Tel:: 506-451-7407, Email:
elw@adi.ca, www.adi.ca or
Brian
Allen, Indachem Inc. Tel: 416-743-
3751, Email: allen@keddco.com
Alberta invests more
funds to improve regional
water systems
Ten Alberta communities will benefit
from approximately $25 million for
water projects. $16 million will be
allocated to regional water systems
and an additional $9 million will
improve Alberta’s monitoring networks
as part of the province’s Water
for Life strategy.
Announced as part of Budget 2004,
the $25 million in new funding was
added to the government’s 2004-2007
Capital Plan to address the Water for
Life strategy. Alberta Transportation's
share of that amount is $16 million,
which was added to the department's
existing Alberta Municipal Water
Wastewater Partnership grant program.
Alberta Environment's $9 million
share is for the replacement, rehabilitation
and expansion of Alberta's monitoring
networks.
One project to receive partnership
grants is the creation of a regional
water transmission line from the City
of Red Deer’s water treatment plant to
Blackfalds, Lacombe and Ponoka.
Another project involves building a
regional water line from Grande
Prairie to the Hamlet of Clairmont and
the Town of Sexsmith.
Layfield Plastics
acquires business assets
of CW Neal
Layfield Plastics Incorporated, a member
of The Layfield Group of
Companies, and CW Neal Corporation
have announced the successful completion
of Layfield's acquisition of the
business assets of CW Neal
Corporation. CW Neal has operations
in California and is a supplier of
geosynthetic floating cover systems
and is a fabricator and installer of
geomembrane containment products
and water control baffle systems. The
business will continue to operate as
Layfield Environmental Systems
Corp., dba CW Neal.
Layfield is a vertically integrated,
ISO 9002 certified manufacturer and
distributor of a diverse range of construction
and environmental products.
Contact: www.layfieldgroup.com.
New Brunswick wastewater
treatment plant to
receive $2.8 million
The Town of Woodstock, New
Brunswick, will receive funds under
the Canada - New Brunswick Infrastructure
Program for the construction
of a new aerated lagoon wastewater
treatment plant that will replace an
outdated facility. The investment under
this program amounts to a total of
$2,831,150.00.
This project involves the construction
of a new aerated lagoon wastewater
treatment plant on a site north of
the Beardsley Road, together with a
2.4 km gravity and forcemain piping
system. This will replace an existing
oxidation ditch which is emitting effluent
quality above regulatory levels and
threatening the municipal water supply.
A total of 1,700 households will
have improved treatment of wastewater.
NS government approves
tough new biosolids rules
The government of Nova Scotia has
approved tough new standards for the
storage and disposal of biosolids. Only
biosolids that have been treated to kill
pathogens and to meet certain chemical
criteria will be approved for land
application. The treatment must be
applied by the generator of the material.
All approvals for land application of
untreated sludges are cancelled.
The new guidelines took effect May
15, 2004. They will become part of any
approval issued for land application or
storage of biosolids, which makes
them fully enforceable under the
Environment Act. Current approval
holders for land application or storage
of biosolids will have to meet the technical
standards of the new guidelines.
Applicants for new approvals will also
have to meet requirements to conduct
meaningful public consultation, to
address concerns expressed at public
consultations and to have written confirmation
of compliance with any local
bylaws or planning regulations.
The new guidelines and instructions
for filing comments are available on
the Environment and Labour website
at www.gov.ns.ca/enla/.
Focus on UV disinfection
at WEAO Conference
Participants at the 2004 Water
Environment Association of Ontario
Conference were given an overview of
the evolution of UV for wastewater
effluent disinfection, including different
types of UV lamps and lamp cleaning
systems.
The tour, sponsored and hosted by
Trojan Technologies, continued at the
City of London’s Greenway Pollution
Control Centre (GPCC). In 1998, the
City of London installed the Trojan
UV4000 for disinfection of the plant’s
effluent prior to discharge into the
Thames River. The system included a
contoured reactor, module removal
mechanism, PLC options, automatic
lamp cleaning system and mediumpressure,
high-intensity lamps.
Alberta launches Canada's first provincial
program for e-recycling
Effective October 1, 2004, old
televisions, computers and
related equipment currently
going into Alberta's landfills
will be collected, reused, recycled
and turned into new products
and economic opportunities
for Albertans.
In 2004, more than 190,000
televisions and 90,000 desktop
computers will be discarded
from Alberta households.
These electronics contain hazardous
materials like lead and
mercury that can cause significant
environmental and health
risks through potential soil or
groundwater contamination if
they end up in landfills.
In the initial phase of the
program, televisions, computer
monitors, CPUs, laptops, electronic notebooks and printers will be accepted
for recycling. An environmental fee, ranging from $5 to $45, depending
on the item, will be placed on each product included in the program. The fee
will cover the costs of collection, transportation and recycling of electronics
material, education and awareness programs and electronics recycling related
research. Collection will be co-ordinated through locally run depots and
drop-off points across the province.
The e-recycling program is a key part of the Government of Alberta’s
strategy to reduce the annual per capita waste going to landfills from the current
level of 750 kilograms per person to 500 kilograms by 2010.
Ontario toughens operator
training requirements
A new regulation under the Safe
Drinking Water Act, 2002, has been
introduced by the Ontario MOE to
ensure water system operators continue
to improve their knowledge and
skills. Among other requirements, the
new regulation will ensure that:
- Water system operators are aware of
emerging pathogens, protection measures
and technologies;
- Training is clearly defined and
directly relates to the work of a water
system operator;
- The hours of training required by an
operator reflect the knowledge needed
to run a particular system;
- “Grandparented” operators (those
who received an operator’s licence in
the past without passing a certification
exam) are re-certified through examination;
and
- Entry-level operators take a ministry-approved
course within 16 months of
securing their operator-in-training certificate.
This tough new regulation will
address eight of Commissioner
O'Connor's 10 recommendations on
certification and training in the Report
of the Walkerton Inquiry. The government
will work with the water industry
to improve access to training across the
province, which will address the
remaining two recommendations on
certification and training.
Most aspects of the regulation come
into force on August 1, 2004. The
Ministry of the Environment will help
ensure those affected by these new
rules have the tools needed to help
them meet the new standards quickly
and effectively. The new training
requirements come into force on
August 1, 2005.
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