The Technical Area of the AWWOA web site is provided for any Operator that would like some insight into various topics of interest within the field of water and wastewater treatment. Most all of the papers presented come from technical sessions held during the Associations' Annual Seminars. However, if any of you would like to have a paper published on this site, we would welcome your effort. E-mail awwoa@awwoa.ab.ca with your information and arrangements can be made to publish your paper.
Here you will find a number of papers that were presented at the AWWOA 2007 Annual Seminar held in Banff as well as some interesting papers from other sources. A short synopsis details each of the papers presented.
The following papers are in an Adobe Acrobat PDF file format. You will need to have the Acrobat Reader installed in your computer in order to view these files or be using the latest browser with the Adobe plug-in installed.
Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps presents an expanded definition of urban water infrastructure - one that goes beyond the existing physical infrastructure of pipes, pumps and reservoirs.This new infrastructure includes innovative physical components, water sensitive urban design and conservation programs designed to complement existing water supply networks. It emphasizes decentralized technologies and lasting local programs that inspire behavioural change. Most importantly, this new infrastructure relies heavily on building and maintaining “social infrastructure”—the planning processes, education programs, and fi nancial and human resources needed to liberate the full potential of water effi ciency and conservation, and to foster sustainable water use at the community level. By developing such an infrastructure, water management shifts its focus beyond expensive, expansive and ecologically damaging physical infrastructure, toward dramatically increased water
productivity. In this context, increasing water efficiency and conservation is more than just the right thing to do. It is the only way to address the dual goals of meeting human water demands and sustaining aquatic ecosystem health - foundations of lasting water security.
Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps is intended to inspire and facilitate action. Based on three years of research by the Water Sustainability team at the University of Victoria’s POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, this handbook integrates leading thinking on water conservation and sustainable water management. It is a practical resource designed for community leaders, water managers and policy makers seeking to make the case for, and promote, a comprehensive and long-term approach to water demand-side management. By illustrating the potential of this approach, it urges communities to take water security to the next step - to look “beyond the pipes and pumps” and develop new ways of managing water that offer opportunities for big savings, of both water and money.
The Water Sustainability Project (WSP) is an initiative that began in January of 2003 at the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance at the University of Victoria. The WSP team seeks to understand the structure and dynamics of urban water use, and to provide mechanisms to help reorient Canadian water management from supply to demand-side approaches. Formerly the Urban Water Demand Management Project (UWDM), the initiative changed its name in 2005 to the Water Sustainability Project to reflect the broader mandate to promote demand management for water as part of the larger goal of sustainable water management.
In the context of "governance for innovation," a term that promotes the adoption of innovative and alternative solutions, the WSP team has developed a comprehensive legal and policy framework for urban water management and detailed action plans for federal, provincial and municipal governments.
To examine urban water issues in Canada, including a survey of "best practices" in demand-side management(DSM) both in Canada and abroad;
The WSP team thanks the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation for their generous support of this project.
Fluoridation Facts contains answers to frequently asked questions regarding community water fluoridation.A number of these questions are based on myths and
misconceptions advanced by a small faction opposed to water fluoridation. The answers to the questions that appear in Fluoridation Factsare based on generally accepted, peer-reviewed, scientific evidence. They are offered to assist policy makers and the general public in making informed decisions. The answers are supported by thousands of credible scientiic articles, including the more than 350 references within the document. It is hoped that decision-makers will make
sound choices based on this body of generally accepted, peer-reviewed science.
This publication was developed by the ADA’s Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations.Principal staff contributions to this edition of Fluoridation Facts were made by: Ms. Jane S. McGinley, RDH, MBA, Manager and Ms. Nicole M. Stouflet, RDH, MHS, Coordinator, Fluoridation and Preventive Health Activities, Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations. In addition to his legal review, Mr. Mark Rubin, Esq., Associate General Counsel, Division of Legal Affairs, made signiicant contributions to the vision of this booklet.Other signiicant staff contributors included: Mr. Paul
O’Connor, Legislative Liaison, Department of State Government Affairs; Ms. Helen Ristic, Ph.D., Director of Science Information, Council on Scientiic Affairs and Mr. Chakwan Siew, Ph.D., Senior Director, Research and Laboratories, Council on Scientiic Affairs.A special thanks to the National Fluoridation Advisory
Committee members who contributed to this edition: Ms. Diane Brunson, Dr. Robert N. Crawford, Jr., Dr. Lisa P. Howard, Dr. Jayanth V. Kumar, Dr. Ernest Newbrun, Mr. Thomas G. Reeves and Dr. Michael S. Swartz.
There are many areas in Canada where elevated levels of arsenic are found in groundwater aquifers. Rural Canadians are the group most likely to be impacted by arsenic as groundwater is the preferred source of water in most rural areas and water treatment technologies, used for arsenic removal, are often difficult or impractical to implement in rural situations.
To help address this issue, the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in partnership with the Alberta Research Council, Flagstaff County and the M.D. of Wainwright recently conducted a series of field studies in the province of Alberta. The studies included a regional groundwater investigation and 3 field evaluations of select water treatment technologies for the removal of arsenic. These studies served to improve knowledge on the occurrence of arsenic in rural water supplies and to provide information on arsenic removal technologies applicable to rural and agricultural situations.
The following report summarizes the results of the groundwater investigation and field evaluations of arsenic removal technologies. More detailed information on the procedures and results of these studies can be found in the Project Reports, ‘Arsenic Removal Field Testing at Flagstaff County’, ‘Impact of pH on Manganese Greensand Arsenic Removal Efficiency’ and ‘Field Testing of Commercial Arsenic Removal Technologies at Flagstaff County’.
Abstract
The Mannheim Water Treatment Plant (MWTP) was commissioned in 1992 as a fully conventional drinking water treatment facility to meet the increasing water demands for the Region of Waterloo’s (ROW) water supply system. The WTP was designed to have a nominal production capacity of 72 million litres per day. The original design included raw water pumping from the Grand River to a four-stage pre-settling reservoir followed by re-pumping of this pre-settled water approximately 10 kilometres to the MWTP. The MWTP processes included chemical addition, rapid mixing, flocculation, lamella plate settling, ozonation, filtration, primary and secondary disinfection. Ozonation was incorporated into the design for taste and odour, and colour control. Disinfection is achieved through post-filtration UV irradiation, post-filtration chlorination, and, chloramination.
Currently the facility supplies approximately 20% of the drinking water to the Region’s Integrated Urban System. Due to internal operational objectives and regulatory restrictions, the plant has been unable to consistently achieve the design capacity of 72 ML/d. In the spring of 2004 a Consultant was retained to undertake the MWTP Operating Strategy Review. The scope of this project was to identify alternatives to bring the MWTP to its original design capacity or higher if economically and practicably feasible.
A comprehensive review and bench scale testing of different technologies, followed by pilot tests and technical screening indicated that replacing the rapid mixing system with high pressure hydraulic mixers and upgrading the filters to deep-bed high-rate filters would be the preferred alternative for resolving the MWTP process concerns. Dissolved air floatation (DAF) was also confirmed as the preferred alternative for upgrading of the pre-treatment processes.
The process assessment also identified that the efficiency of the filtration step could be improved by optimizing operational procedures and by upgrading certain components of the filters. These improvements include changes to the filter backwash and the filter-to-waste procedures and additional component upgrades. It is anticipated that filtration improvements would result.
A phased upgrading plan is underway that will result in upgrading two of the filters to deep-bed high-rate filters in February of 2007. Upon converting the filters, staff will closely monitor their performance (filter run times, particulate removal effectiveness, backwash effectiveness, etc.) for approximately 1 year. Granular activated carbon and anthracite will be compared. Biological filtration and disinfection by-product formation potential will also be considered from observations obtained from the plant itself and from the pilot plant which will also be utilized. The remaining two filters would then be upgraded based on the success of the initial phase.
This presentation will highlight the overall operational strategy review process, specific system upgrades including an update on various successes to date, all with a focus on the filtration step from an operations perspective. It will be beneficial to those involved in treatment technologies and processes, the drinking water community in general, and water plant operators specifically.
Town of Drayton Valley WWTP, Alberta, installation of solar powered high flow circulators to improve treatment and reduce energy costs.