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Sewer and Watermain

February 2, 2012

Ontario should review Municipal Class Environmental Assessment criteria: Report

A review of Ontario’s Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) concluded that the province should review certain criteria that will help determine projects likely to have fewer rather than larger environmental impacts. The report, by environmental lawyer Frank Zechner, was commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO)

January 31, 2012

Mark Van Bree takes over as Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association president

Don Sloat, outgoing president of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, passed the torch over to incoming president Mark Van Bree at the OSWCA annual general meeting and conference. The OSWCA worked with other organizations to re-introduce the One Call Act, which went through first and second reading at Queen’s Park. If passed, the Act would establish Ontario One Call Ltd. as a not-for-profit call centre, single point-of contact, for all underground utility location services in Ontario.

January 24, 2012

Toronto council approves $1.1 billion in capital projects

Toronto City Council has approved a capital budget that was essentially unchanged from that recommended by the executive and budget committees recently.

January 19, 2012

Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association lauds Toronto 2012 water rate change

As Toronto politicians, labour leaders and pundits argue over the city’s tax-supported proposed budget the head of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA) is praising city council for approving a nine per cent increase in water rates.

January 18, 2012

New environmental regulations can create challenges and opportunities

Juli Aboucha of Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP and Dan Bunner of Environ Canada, talked about changes to environmental regulations, such as the Records of Site Condition in Ontario, during the annual Construction Superconference in Toronto.

January 4, 2012

2011 Canadian top designs recognized in Canadian Architect magazine’s annual awards program

Projects constructed in Ontario scored four of the eight 2011 Awards of Excellence in Canadian Architect magazine’s annual awards program.

December 12, 2011

Ontario one step closer to mandatory One Call underground utility location agency

The Ontario One Call Act has passed second reading in the Ontario Legislature at Queen’s Park. If passed, the province would establish Ontario One Call Ltd. as a not-for-profit call centre, a single point-of contact for all underground utility location services in Ontario. Ontario One Call was founded by Union Gas Ltd., Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) Inc. and Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB).

November 18, 2011

Cambridge, Ontario announces watermain rehabilitation strategy

The City of Cambridge, Ontario is working on a long-term strategy for its water distribution system and using cured-in-place pipe liners for watermain rehabilitation.

November 17, 2011

Stately look for Windsor, Ontario pumping station

A red brick and fieldstone house in Windsor, Ontario is actually a utilitarian pump station, designed to take rain water from the Howard Avenue underpass, part of a $300 in upgrades. The architect was Aecom, the pump station subcontractor was Facca Construction Inc. while the Coco Paving Inc. had the overall project.

November 15, 2011

Local heavy construction welcomes Ottawa draft city budget

The National Capital Heavy Construction Association (NCHCA) is happy with a draft budget tabled by the City of Ottawa, which includes $340 million over three years for infrastructure including roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, sewers, bridges and a stormwater system. The city plans to take advantage of low interest rates to get a head start on public works projects.

June 24, 2011

Newfoundland agency in talks with NATO on use of water quality monitoring technology

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is currently in talks with the Water Resources Management Division (WRMD) of Newfoundland and Labrador to use its water monitoring technology to monitor the Dead Sea and the Jordan River in the Middle East. WRMD transmits data from sensors, which measure factors including temperature, pH level, turbidity, specific conductance and dissolved oxygen, via satellite.

June 24, 2011

Veolia Canada provides consulting for wastewater plants in Winnipeg

Under a 30-year consulting contract, Veolia Canada will provide advice and expertise regarding the operation and maintenance of Winnipeg water pollution control centres. A new biosolids plant will be used to convert treated sewage into either compost or agricultural fertilizer and may also be converted to pellets that can be burned to generate electricity.

June 24, 2011

Peat filter system treats sewage at Milton, Ontario community centre

The Campbellville Community Centre & Nassagaweya Tennis Courts Redevelopment in Milton, Ontario does not have access to a sewer, so Slagter Construction was contracted to install an EcoFlo Peat Filter System. The community centre itself was designed by +VG Architects and built by general contractor DeFaveri Construction.

June 24, 2011

Genivar engineer compiles history of Thunder Bay, Ontario water supply tunnel

Larry Betuzzi, structural engineer with Genivar, did extensive research on the Loch Lomond Water Supply System, originally started by the city of Fort William in 1906 and decommissioned by its successor City of Thunder Bay, Ontario in 2007.

June 24, 2011

Aquatech Dewatering drains tailrace section of dam on Abitibi River in Ontario

Ontario Power Generation hired Barclay Construction Group to remediate concrete at the Abitibi Canyon Generating Station near Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario. Barclay in turn hired Aquatech Dewatering Co. of Concord, Ontario to drain the tailrace section.

June 24, 2011

How the Lakeview Water Treatment Plant in Mississauga, Ontario will save space

A new 41,519-square-foot, 400 mega litres-per-day Lakeview Water Treatment plant is now under construction in Mississauga, Ontario. Kenaidan Contracting is the general contractor and CH2M Hill is the consultant on the project, which will use a combination of ozonation, ultrafiltration (UF) and ultraviolet (UV) technology.

June 24, 2011

Procurement alliances will be key to securing water work, C.D. Howe Institute report finds

Contractors who want to be part of addressing Canada’s massive sewer and water infrastructure deficit need to align themselves with consortiums capable of delivering design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) contracts and to become active in promoting policies that will see such contracts become commonplace, says Elizabeth Brubaker, executive director of Environment Probe. Brubaker wrote a report titled A Bridge Over Troubled Waters for the C.D. Howe Institute.

June 24, 2011

Bennett Contracting works on reservoir, pumping station expansion in Mississauga, Ontario

The 40-year-old Streetsville Reservoir and Pumping Station in Mississauga, Ontario is receiving a major overhaul. Millgrove, Ontario-based Bennett Contracting is the general contractor in charge of the $16 million first phase.

June 24, 2011

Mueller Water Products’ Echologics unit detects leaks in water pipes

A Canadian company has developed a leak-detection and water pipe-condition assessment technology that’s making its mark across North America.

June 24, 2011

Xogen technology aims to eliminate biosolids in wastewater treatment in Orangeville, Ontario

After first introducing its innovative wastewater treatment concept to the Town of Orangeville, Ontario in 2009, Xogen and its pilot project are up and running and treating 1,800 litres of wastewater per hour. Xogen is an electrolytic process that not only aims to eliminate biosolids, but also requires a much smaller facilities footprint than conventional treatment approaches.

June 24, 2011

Aqua-Pure Ventures of Calgary honoured for work in fracturing shale deposits for natural gas

Calgary-based Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc. has been chosen by The Artemis Project as a 2011 Top 50 Water Companies Competition winner, for its work in recycling water used to hydraulically fracture shale deposits to release natural gas in the North Texas Barnett Shale. Aqua-Pure supplies Nomad 2000 units to distill the water using mechanical vapour recompression (MVR), separating contaminants from the effluent.