ES&E President, Steve Davey (right) has begun serving a three year term as a Director of the Washington based Water Environment Federation (WEF). Steve, a Past President of the Water Environment Association of Ontario, accepted an award from WEF President Philip Gerwert on behalf of WEAO. He has won two awards for his environmental journalism.

Impure drinking water has slain more soldiers than weapons of war. Lt. Colonel Nasmith ­ later one of the founders of what is now CH2M Gore & Storrie Ltd. ­ devised methods of purifying water on the battlefields. He held an M.A., Ph.D., D.P.M., and D.Sc., all from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Nasmith also played a major role in understanding that the first use of gas warfare by the enemy at Ypres in April 1915, was a combination of chlorine and bromine. His actions in the field and technical and practical discussions are recorded in the July 16, 1919 edition of the Medical Record.

He was officer commanding No. 5 Mobile Laboratory in France, which had full supervision of all water purification for the First Canadian Army and latterly, the Second British Army in the field.

A study released by the national conservation group American Forests found that a 20 percent loss of trees and other vegetation in the Atlanta metropolitan region produced a one billion-cubic foot increase in stormwater runoff. It estimated that it would cost at least $2 billion to build containment facilities capable of storing the excess water.

Between 1986 and 1993, the displacement of trees by development caused stormwater runoff to increase on a net total of approximately 500,000 acres. That number would have been higher had it not been for improved tree cover that decreased runoff on approximately 300,000 acres. Natural elements of the landscape, such as trees and vegetation, slow the movement of stormwater, lower the total runoff volume, and reduce costly flooding.

"We found that removing natural vegetation and replacing it with manmade structures has a high cost. That makes a strong argument for incorporating natural systems into the decision-making process and finding new ways to build cities," said Gary Moll, vice president for urban forestry at American Forests and study coordinator.

The study used engineering formulas developed by the Natural Resource Conservation Service to calculate the stormwater volume for a two-year, 24-hour storm event. The cost of building stormwater retention ponds ranges from $0.17 to $17.00 per cubic foot. American Forests researchers based their calculations on a conservative figure of $2.00.

The federal government recently amended the Migratory Birds Regulations to ban the use of lead shot for hunting most migratory game birds in wetland areas. Effective September 1, 1997, hunters are required to use only non-toxic shot for hunting waterfowl and most other migratory game birds in areas within 200 metres of any water course or water body.

Existing non-toxic shot zones remain in effect. Currently, approved alternatives to lead shot are steel, bismuth, tungsten-iron and tungsten-polymer. Starting on September 1, 1999, the ban will apply in all areas of the country.

A startlingly large number of viruses have been found in prairie wetlands and ponds. For example, in a drinking water dugout in Saskatchewan, there are more than 2.5 billion viruses per millilitre of water. These numbers are among the highest ever recorded in aquatic ecosystems, anywhere in the world.

Dr. Richard Robarts of Environment Canada and Professor David Bird of the University of Quebec, sampled approximately 300 lakes and wetlands in western North America in 1995. Their preliminary analysis of water samples revealed large numbers of viruses; many may be mammalian or avian. Now many questions need answering: Are these new viruses? Do they pose any threat to human or wildlife health?