Harmful algal blooms, fed by excess nutrients in the water, are a pressing environmental, economic and public health concern in water bodies across Canada. Government organizations on both sides of the Canada-US border are responsible for setting goals, overseeing implementation and monitoring, and evaluating outcomes of nutrient management. Decisions need to be made, and a [...]
Estimates of nutrient loadings to water bodies from municipal sources are typically calculated using point measurements of nutrient concentrations and known discharge rates. However, some uncertainty in load estimates is inevitable, and it is unclear how well nutrient monitoring methods typically used in Canada support decision making by watershed managers. With financial support from Environment [...]
Steadily increasing regulations and changing practices are gradually improving the quality of urban wastewater. By contrast, fewer controls or regulations deal with non-point-source discharges or effluent exceedances such as those that occur during extreme weather. With financial support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Water Network led a project to examine the state-of-the-knowledge on [...]
Effective urban water management is vital for life and livelihood. Urban water supply and removal systems serve many critical functions, from that of health-support system to economic engine. Yet, when operating smoothly, their presence often goes unnoticed. Major disruptions, while dramatic and costly, are rare. Rather, it is the day-to-day system operations that produce the [...]
This purpose of this research project was to define the treatment characteristics of low-cost wastewater treatment systems for rural wastewater through a series of innovative field and laboratory scale experiments.
An inter-disciplinary effort, the project incorporated researchers and partners from universities, government and public/private sectors. Technological work was integrated as part of the “SmartWaterBC” pilot study of six IPCA systems on Bowen Island, off the coast of Vancouver.
This project, led by Dr. Chris Metcalfe, has developed a scientific framework to assess the environmental risks associated with the release of pharmaceuticals into the aquatic environment.
Based on previous CWN funded-projects, the first full-scale wetland technologies have been implemented for the treatment of septage and dairy farm wastewaters, and full-scale demonstration constructed wetlands have been installed to treat domestic wastewater.
The objective of this project was to develop an understanding of the processes related to the transport of viruses in fractured rock aquifers, and to develop tools for predicting and identifying risks of viruses in aquifers.
This project, led by Mohammed Dore and James Byrne, focused on the problem of combined sewer overflow and its effect on the Great Lakes Region.