Features

Can we create 5 “net zero energy” wastewater facilities in Ontario in the next 5 years? It certainly felt possible on October 30, 2017 when SOWC and OCWA convened a workshop with municipal leaders, water technology companies and academic experts. They came together to talk about how to make such a radical transition in Ontario. [...]

Wastewater treatment facilities protect neighbouring watersheds from harm, but often with a high price in terms of energy usage. "Current wastewater treatment consumes a lot of resources and it is not efficient or sustainable," says McMaster University researcher Younggy Kim. "Many communities spend a substantial amount of energy on the treatment of wastewater. And as [...]

Around the world, wastewater treatment plant operators face the same conundrum: what to do with the biosolids that they spend so much effort removing from the wastewater. Some apply it to land. After all, this organic sludge is rich in nutrients. However, it can also contain a cocktail of different contaminants, from household cleaners, paint [...]

Better, faster, cheaper. It’s the mantra of wastewater treatment plant engineers around the world. That’s why more of them are focusing attention on unlocking the full potential of anaerobic digestion: using the biogas produced to generate electricity and transforming sludge into valuable fertilizer. Now, an Ontario collaboration funded by SOWC is giving them the design [...]

Hamilton-based Hydromantis Environmental Software Solutions Inc. specializes in engineering and consulting work for the wastewater industry, finding much of its success on account of its innovative GPS-X tool. Released more than 25 years ago, this powerful modeling and simulation software has become a leading option for the design, optimization, and general management of wastewater treatment [...]

For Honeywell, when it comes to spectrometer sensor technology, space is not the final frontier. In the past, its aerospace division engineered sophisticated instruments for scientists to measure the reflected sunlight of a planet, and determine the concentrations and flow of carbon dioxide and methane gas pollution in the earth’s atmosphere. The company’s space programs [...]

Traditional methods for testing microbial water contamination can be cumbersome, expensive, and do not report immediate feedback. The overall process of sending a sample to a microbiological lab, waiting for the results, flushing and disinfecting a water system if a high bacteria content is present, and then verifying that bacteria has been purged, can take [...]

On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, the Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) and GE Water & Process Technologies (GE), along with the City of Guelph and Lystek International Inc. (Lystek), hosted a “graduate student / industry engagement day” for graduate students and post-docs at the Guelph Wastewater Facility to meet with company representatives, share their research [...]

As part of a multi-pronged project with University of Guelph (UofG) researchers, the Canadian company is planning to improve its onsite sewage treatment solution, studying the use of a unique filter material added to its electrochemical phosphorus-removal system as a possible soil nutrient. “We’re using a glassy silicate material, similar in appearance to fibreglass, to [...]