Municipal per capita water use is decreasing across Canada due to the rising use of water-efficient fixtures, updated plumbing and building codes, and an increasing trend in water metering. Water conservation results in a number of benefits, but also impacts the operations of municipal drinking water and wastewater systems. Canadian Water Network hosted a two-part [...]
Canadian Water Network, in partnership with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, evaluated how higher-resolution topographical and municipal flood-defence data impacts flood risk evaluation. Data from Natural Resources Canada and five Canadian municipalities was collected over 8 months to test whether pluvial hazard maps derived from large-scale risk models would change, and the degree to which [...]
Effective management of our wastewater is critical for Canadians across the country. Moving forward, we must consider how to make strategic investments that maximize the benefits to society and the environment, and prepare our wastewater systems to address the uncertainties of the future. From October 2017 to March 2018, Canadian Water Network led a national [...]
In 2017, Canadian Water Network partnered with PSD and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association to better understand asset management practices in Canada. Asset managers and water system managers in 58 municipalities across Canada were surveyed about what asset data they collect and how this data is being used to support decisions regarding maintenance, repair [...]
Canadians expect consistent, high quality water services, with operations that are fiscally, environmentally and socially responsible. However, substantial financial challenges have been inherited, and billions of dollars will be needed to repair or upgrade aging infrastructure across the country. In 2016, Canadian Water Network launched an initiative to understand more clearly the challenges that Canadian [...]
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 [...]
Effectively managing nutrient losses from agricultural lands is critical for protecting water quality, and is a core focus in regions like the western basin of Lake Erie (Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan, 2018). With financial support from Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, CWN led a project to provide an updated synthesis of [...]
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 [...]
