Canadian students compete in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition
Patrick Danielson and Robin
Miron, both of North Bay,
Ontario, have recently returned
from the Stockholm Junior
Water Prize (SJWP) competition in
Stockholm, Sweden. The two 17-year
old students, from Algonquin
Secondary School, won the Canadian
competition, held last May in
Vancouver.
Their project, entitled Macro-
Invertebrate Sampling Technology
(MIST), involved the development of a
flow-through lake water sampler that
can sample in real time, macro-invertebrates
such as Mysis relicta and
Bythotrephes longimanus. Patrick
explained to the judges that “these zooplankton
species are alien to Canadian
lakes and are poised to potentially disrupt
aquatic life in northern Ontario
lakes”. The sampler and accompanying
software can be used to produce threedimensional
charts, either in real time
or back in the lab. Rick Corbett, the
Chief Judge for the Canadian SJWP
competition noted that “the technique
that Patrick and Robin have developed
will allow scientists to scan the lake
water column very quickly and then
decide on what depths and areas to concentrate
conventional zooplankton
sampling methods.”
Patrick and Robin were awarded an
all-expense paid trip to Stockholm,
Sweden for the international competition.
The students will also be invited to
present their project at the Water
Environment Federation (WEF)
Technical Exhibition and Conference, to
be held in November in Washington D.C.
Student teams from 27 countries
participated in the weeklong competition.
Pontso Moletsane, Motebele
Motshodi and Sechaba Ramabenyane
from South Africa were awarded the
prestigious Stockholm Junior Water
Prize in a formal ceremony at Dansens
Hus in Stockholm. The award, presented
by Crown Princess Victoria, on
behalf of the Stockholm Water
Foundation, is accompanied by a
$5000 US scholarship and a crystal
sculpture.
The prestigious SJWP event recognizes
students for excellence in water
research. The Canadian SJWP competition
is organized by the Canadian
Affairs Council of the WEF. The
Canadian Water and Wastewater
Association (CWWA), Canadian
Member Associations of WEF and ITT
Flygt Industries provided funding.
Refinery company fined for
non-compliance with organic
chemical regulation
Imperial Oil Limited was fined
$135,000 after pleading guilty to three
counts under The Organic Chemical
Sector Regulation 63/95 pursuant to
the Environmental Protection Act
(EPA).
The company owns and operates a
petroleum refinery along the east
shore of the St. Clair River in Sarnia,
Ontario. The refinery must comply
with conditions under Regulation
63/95 that set out a daily loading limit
of 117 kilograms per day and a monthly
average loading limit of 40 kilograms.
These legislated requirements must
be met and reports must be made to the
Ministry of the Environment’s Sarnia
District Office when exceedances
occur.
The court heard that, on February
25 and March 4, 2004, Imperial Oil
failed to ensure that the daily process
effluent plant loading calculated for dissolved organic carbon did not
exceed the daily plant loading limit
specified in the regulation. Once discovered,
the company failed to orally
report these findings to the Director as
soon as reasonably possible. As a
result of further investigation by the
ministry’s Investigations and
Enforcement Branch, the company
was charged. It was confirmed that
there was no evidence of any adverse
effect on the St. Clair River as a result
of these exceedances.
John Meunier to supply
clarifiers and filters to
BC water plant
The District of Summerland, in British
Columbia has selected John Meunier
to supply water treatment equipment
for the future Trout Creek Water
Treatment Plant. The contract is valued
at $2.8 million (Cdn). John Meunier
will design and supply two ACTIFLO®
clarifiers and six filters, for a total
capacity of 72 million litres per day.
Site preparation has begun and the new
water treatment plant is scheduled for
start-up in late 2006. Urban Systems of
Kelowna will act as Project Manager.
The project will be John Meunier’s
largest project in British Columbia.
Other recent ACTIFLO projects in
Western Canada include the Greater
Vancouver Water District (Seymour-
Capilano Filtration Plant), the City of
Red Deer Water Treatment Plant and
the City of Calgary (Bearspaw and
Glenmore Water Treatment Plants).
Aurora Cable Internet orders
new hybrid renewable
energy system
Aurora Cable Internet (ACI) located in
Aurora, Ontario, has contracted
Hybridyne Power Systems Canada Inc.
to supply and build a new hybrid
renewable energy system. Scheduled
to be fully operational by the end of
2005, this installation will initially
capture energy from the wind with
three high-efficiency wind turbines.
Future expansion is possible by combining
solar power with the wind turbines.
ACI will be reducing their
“Greenhouse Gas” emissions by about
100 tonnes per year. Also, by generating
their own electricity, the company
will be freeing up enough grid-supplied
electricity to power approximately
50 homes.
Hybridyne Power Systems Canada
Inc. specializes in the turn-key design
and installation of hybrid (wind, solar
and other dynamic source) renewable
energy systems. For further information
visit, www.hybridynepower.ca
Hach aids rural
water associations
In response to the Katrina disaster, Hach
Company, a subsidiary of Danaher
Corporation, is donating money, technical
training and water analytical equipment
to the Rural Water Associations of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The company believes these rural
water professionals will be able to use
this aid to help the largest number of
people get access to safe drinking water
and adequate sewage treatment in the
shortest time possible.
In addition, both Danaher Corporation
and the Associates of Hach Company are
in the process of collecting funds to
donate to the American Red Cross. Hach
is also making their Analytical Waste
Water Trailers available to water professionals
in the impacted areas to assist with
the clean-up efforts. Finally, Hach
Company is donating equipment to Miox
Corporation for use on a self-contained,
portable drinking water plant which will
provide 24,000 gallons of clean and safe
drinking water a day, to those in need.
Joint research on rubber
asphalt concrete
The provincial government has
launched an innovative research project
with several key partners to examine
the potential of crumb rubber
asphalt concrete on Saskatchewan's
highways.
Highways and Transportation
Maynard Sonntag said: "Safe and efficient
transportation drives economic
development and is a top priority for the
people and industry of Saskatchewan.”
The project is located on Highway
11, from the south junction of Highway
2 to Chamberlain, for a total of approximately
20 kilometres. The rubber
asphalt, which is produced using crumb
rubber manufactured from recycled
scrap tires, will be used in the northbound
and southbound driving lanes,
with conventional asphalt for the passing
lanes and shoulders.
Rubber asphalt concrete offers several
benefits, including lower traffic
noise, reduced pavement thickness,
and longer pavement life versus conventional
asphalt concrete. Road construction
operations are essentially the
same for both types.
The reduced thickness and longer
life of rubber asphalt concrete allows it
to become economically competitive
to conventional materials in some
cases. Its use also provides a market
opportunity for recycled rubber produced
in Saskatchewan.
The research project is the result of
collaboration between Saskatchewan
Highways and Transportation, the
University of Regina, the Saskatchewan
Scrap Tire Corporation, the City of
Regina, the National Research Council
and the Prairie Rubber Corporation.
Summa Engineering Limited located in
Mississauga, Ontario, celebrated its
25th anniversary, July 29, with a creative
combination of fellowship and golf.
Some 140 golfers played at the
renowned Hockley Valley resort.
Golfers paid $125 per person, with
the resort charging Summa a low rate;
the difference was donated to the Heart
and Stroke Foundation. Additionally
leading consulting and equipment companies
each sponsored a hole with proceeds
also going to the Foundation.
Later some 235 people attended dinner.
At the banquet, founding partners
Frank Cosentino and Fernando Chua
traced the origin of their company which
had begun in a basement apartment a
quarter century ago. Frank later
announced that Summa had topped up
the contribution to the Heart and Stroke
Foundation resulting in a $10,000 donation
from golfing activities. The
Foundation also provided prizes for
guests.
BC power plant
proposals terminated
When BC Hydro announced on June
17th that it was abandoning plans to
meet Vancouver Island’s electricity
needs through a natural gas power
plant at Duke Point in Nanaimo, environmental
groups and concerned citizens
let out a collective sigh of relief.
The Duke Point Power Plant proposal
was the last vestige of a strategy which
originally called for the now-cancelled
Georgia Straight Crossing gas pipeline
and up to three gas-fired generation
plants on the Island.
Minto wastewater system
receives funding for upgrade
The Village of Minto will receive
$2,634,494 under the Canada-New
Brunswick Municipal Rural Infrastructure
Fund for the upgrade of the municipality's
wastewater infrastructure. The announcement
was made Aug. 30 by Premier
Bernard Lord; Andy Scott, Member of
Parliament for Fredericton and Regional
Minister for New Brunswick, on behalf of
Joseph McGuire, Minister of the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA);
and Minto Mayor Gary DiPaolo.
Thanks to this fund agreement,
every 33 cents that a participating
municipality invests in an infrastructure
project becomes a $1 investment
for that community."
The project involves the replacement
of the existing mechanical
sewage treatment plant with an aerated
lagoon system including ultraviolet
disinfection.
The Canada-New Brunswick
Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund
agreement, signed on Dec. 3, 2004, will
invest $99 million in communities across
New Brunswick over five years. The governments
of Canada and New Brunswick
are each investing $33 million. The remaining $33 million will come from
local governments whose projects win
support from the fund. To date, two projects
have been announced in New
Brunswick under the Canada-New
Brunswick Municipal Rural Infrastructure
Fund agreement, for total funding of
$12,588,064.
In New Brunswick, ACOA is
responsible for the implementation of
the program federally, while the
Department of the Environment and
Local Government, in conjunction
with the Regional Development Corp.,
are responsible for the provincial jurisdiction.
Bennett Environmental received
authorization to accept about 1,500
tonnes of hydrocarbon contaminated
soil from the former Domtar site located
in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The contaminated
soil is coming from the
clean up of a previous storage tank that
contained coal tar material from the
former Domtar site located on the
Coke Ovens site in Sydney, Nova
Scotia.
The soil is acceptable for processing
during commissioning of the
Belledune facility and is well below
the acceptance criteria stipulated in the
draft Approval to Operate for Bennett.
Bennett Environmental has been
working for several months to obtain
sufficient quantities of contaminated
soil in order to complete commissioning
and conduct testing on stack emissions.
American Concrete Pipe
Association appoints
new President
Matt Childs, PE, has been appointed
President of the American Concrete
Pipe Association. He has been with
ACPA for five years, most recently
serving as Director of Engineering
Services. While in that position, he
completed programs for various ACPA
committees by serving as a staff liaison
to the Technical, Manufacturing
Quality and Government Relations
Committees. Also, he has been
involved in helping develop marketing
material for the Association, and in
planning many ACPA training courses.
Mr Childs is replacing John Duffy who
recently retired.
New equipment to enhance
B.C’s air quality monitoring
New monitoring equipment will help
improve air quality in Prince George,
says Environment Minister Barry
Penner. Located on the roof of the
Environment Ministry’s regional
office, the new equipment will identify
potential sources of large and small
particulate matter, which will help the
provincial government and its partners
to continue to develop the Prince
George Airshed Management Plan.
Four other stations around Prince
George also contribute to air quality
monitoring in the airshed.
In addition to about $35,000 invested
in the new equipment, B.C. has
invested over $100,000 in research in
the Prince George airshed, including a
study on small particulate and dust.
This study is expected to be completed
by 2007.
First jail sentence under
Canadian Environmental
Protection Act
Jeffrey Dressler pleaded guilty to two
charges under the Export and Import of
Hazardous Waste Regulations made
pursuant to the Canadian Environmental
Protection Act, 1999. He received a sentence
of 30 days on each count, to be
served concurrently. The charges were
related to actions taken by Mr. Dressler
while employed by Battery Broker
Environmental Services Inc. of
Etobicoke, Ontario.
Judge Lacavera heard that on
December 18, 2003, and on March 19,
2004, while working for Battery Broker
Environmental Services Inc., Mr.
Dressler oversaw the export of more
than 37,800 kilograms of waste batteries
for recycling to the United States.
There were no permits in place
authorizing the exports. In addition, he
failed to ensure that copies of the relevant
waste manifests were forwarded to
Environment Canada, as required. It
was his responsibility to do so on behalf
of the company.
Charges were laid on February 25,
2005, after a year-long investigation by
Environment Canada. The next Court
appearance for Battery Broker
Environmental Services Inc. and its
President was scheduled for September
13, 2005, in St. Catharines, Ontario.
ADI receives National
Composting Award
The Composting Council of Canada
has presented its Award of Merit to the
staff of ADI International (PEI) Inc. in
recognition of ADI’s significant
achievement and support of composting
across Canada. Susan Antler,
Executive Director of the Composting
Council of Canada presented the award
to ADI staff located at the Brookfield,
PEI composting facility, which ADI
designed, built and operates.
“Through the efforts of dedicated ADI
staff, as well as home and business
owners, the province of PEI has
achieved a waste diversion rate of over
64% - one of the most significant successes
in North America,” said Ms.
Antler.
The Central Composting Facility
also won the Benefit to Society Award
presented by Consulting Engineers of
New Brunswick. The Benefit to Society
Award acknowledges engineering
design projects that have a positive
effect on communities in which they
are located. The technology was
designed specifically for the Central
Composting Facility to meet the
province’s strict environmental regulations,
and furthers the realization of the
province’s environmental objectives.
Victaulic provides emergency
repair in record time
When Canadian Electrolytic Zinc
Limited, a zinc processing facility in
Valleyfield, Québec, experienced a
major break in their 36” HDPE line,
they called Victaulic Depend-O-Lok
Inc. for help. Located next to the
St.Lawrence River, CEZinc suffered a
critical rupture on the line leading to
the pumping station that could have
forced a shutdown of the entire plant.
With the possibility of a plant shutdown
costing nearly $1 million a day,
time was of the essence. Victaulic
Depend-O-Loc custom designed, produced
and delivered a 36” x 16” ExE
Type 2 coupling in under 56 hours,
helping CEZinc avert a lengthy and
costly stoppage.
The Type 2 is a flexible, unrestrained
sleeve coupling for use in
polyethylene (HDPE) pipe and is typically
installed in plain pipe ends. The
custom-designed stainless steel coupling was created in two separate
pieces to allow easy installation without
having to remove the existing pipe.
Victaulic hand-delivered the coupling
and worked with a CEZinc contractor
on the installation, which took
less than 45 minutes.
This allowed CEZinc to get the
plant up and running at its optimal
level with the least amount of time.
Climate/weather conditions
not seen for 50 to 100 years
Scientists and engineers who have
studied extreme weather this summer
and compared the data to historical
weather patterns, say that they are the
result of the rare convergence of climatic
and weather phenomena. The
simultaneous occurrence of all current
weather activity may not have taken
place in the last 50 to 100 years or
longer, they say.
Dr. Jayantha Obeysekera, Director
of the Hydrologic and Environmental
Systems Modeling Department at the
South Florida Water Management
District, said: “We are experiencing an
uncommon event. South Florida climate
varies in cycles, some that form
patterns with long return frequencies.
This certainly is an event of a magnitude
that normally occurs once every
50 to 100 years. The concurrence of
these weather/climate factors, which is
our current situation, is a rarity.
Though seasonal climatic forecasts
may have significant uncertainties,
water managers need to take actions in
advance when climatic outlooks indicate
a risk of extremely wet conditions.”
A monster hurricane like Katrina - and
the fact that Florida was hit by four
large hurricanes last summer - are but
the most extreme manifestations of the
unusual weather patterns we are experiencing,
the scientists say. Other evidence:
A rare warm phase in the North
Atlantic; record rainfall; historic
record water levels in lakes; predictions
of much higher than normal rainfall;
extremely warm ocean currents
and, of course, unusually high predictions
of hurricane activity.
For a full copy of this report, log on
to www.sfwmd.gov
Vortex Flow Inserts
eliminate odour in municipal
pipeline sewer drops
Sanitary sewer manholes and pumping
stations that discharge H2S gas and
other foul odours can be serious problems
for inhabitants of surrounding
businesses and residences.
These odours are not only a frequent
source of complaints from the public,
but they also severely impact the air
quality of neighborhoods, particularly
during hot summer months.
Currently, municipalities spend millions
of dollars on chemical injection,
biofilters and other forms of odour and
corrosion control.
Many of these methods are only partially
successful while some others
require a significant commitment to
maintenance.
A new solution for municipalities is
the Vortex Flow™ Insert. Its specially
engineered drop structure harnesses the
energy of falling sewage to aerate the
flow and oxidize dissolved sulphides.
The first Canadian installation in
Sarnia, Ontario, is eliminating H2S
emissions from a force main discharge
that destroyed a concrete drop manhole.
For more information please contact
Tel: 1-866-473-9462.
Water filtration systems
donated to
Katrina relief effort
ZENON Environmental and Maytag
are donating water filtration systems to
aid in relief efforts in affected areas in
Mississippi and Louisiana. ZENON
has already sent 40 of its Homespring
central water filtration systems to
Louisiana and Maytag, its distributor
in North America, has agreed to match
these donations.
Six public schools and several
churches in Hancock and Harrison
Counties have been identified as initial
sites for the filtration system. Several
disaster relief housing centers in the
New Orleans area are also being considered.
The central water filtration systems
will help prevent further spread of bacteria-
borne and parasitic diseases,
which constitute a major health problem
for survivors and rescue teams at
the moment.
Each Maytag-Homespring filtration
system can potentially produce up to
5,000 gallons of water per day. When
deployed in easily accessible public
locations, the 80 units provided are
capable of providing clean, safe drinking
water to approximately 600,000
people.
ITT offers funds and
equipment to
Katrina relief efforts
ITT Industries has pledged $250,000.00
(US) to the Red Cross to fund immediate
hurricane relief. It also made available
fluid technology equipment for
delivery to Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama, including dewatering pumps
and reverse osmosis systems which
could be vital to relief efforts.
Additionally, the company sent night
vision equipment and personnel to
assist in round-the-clock search and
rescue efforts in the affected areas.
The company has installed more
than 70 large pumps in New Orleans
over the years as part of the city’s flood
control system. Together, these pumps
are capable of pumping up to 2 billion
US gallons an hour. To supplement
these in the hurricane’s aftermath, the
company has prepared a fleet of more
than 100 large submersible pumps,
routinely rented for dewatering projects,
on standby to help remove the
flood waters from New Orleans.
Developed just prior to the “Great
Midwest Flood of 1993,” these enginedriven
pumps can each remove 20,000
gallons of water per minute.
Additionally, the company has prepared
chlorination and UV disinfection
equipment to help provide potable
water to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
This equipment can provide up to
250,000 gallons of water per day.
Chlorinators Inc. celebrates
30 years in business
Chlorinators Incorporated, manufacturer
of the REGAL gas chlorinator,
celebrates 30 years in business in
October 2005.
Founded in 1975 by Jim and Diane
Haskett to service the swimming pool
industry, the company has grown over
the years to provide water and wastewater
disinfection to various industries .
