Large-scale flood risk models used by Canada’s insurance sector currently use low-resolution topographic data as inputs, and also give limited consideration to flood mitigation infrastructure or defense measures that have been implemented by Canadian municipalities. In a comparative study undertaken by Canadian Water Network and the Insurance Bureau of Canada, incorporating higher resolution topographic data [...]
Learn more about the 2018 activities of the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium. The insights generated for decision-makers have accelerated, advanced and improved water management on a national scale. Researchers, governments, industry and other organizations see the Consortium as an important group to connect with about municipal water issues and perspectives.
In October 2017, Canadian Water Network embarked on a national review of contaminants in municipal wastewater and Canada’s options to deal with them. A national expert panel was established to guide the process and experts were consulted across the country. The panel’s culminating report informs and empowers decision makers and stakeholders to choose the most [...]
Canadian Water Network and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association partnered with Public Sector Digest to investigate what asset data is being collected by Canadian municipalities/utilities and how it is being used. The report highlights potential challenges in the reliability of asset data, which could impact decisions at the municipal level and points to opportunities [...]
This report was prepared by Canadian Water Network on behalf of the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium to articulate the elements involved in full cost recovery; provide a snapshot of typical financial practices of Canadian utilities; highlight the challenges to achieving financially sustainable water systems; and identify a menu of opportunities to advance financial sustainability.
Canadian Water Network convened an expert workshop to update Canada’s conceptual model of nutrient source and transport. The experts’ discussion, as well as the research cited, informed the insights that are presented in this white paper, which has been written to support those who make decisions about nutrient management actions.
Climate change will result in increasing frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events, yet IDF curves currently in use across Canada do not account for these impacts. As a result, infrastructure built today will not be able to accommodate future extreme rainfall conditions, resulting in increased risk of failure. The “Intensity-Duration-Frequency under Climate Change” (IDFCC) [...]
Research on the impact of emerging substances of concern (ESOCs) in the context of biosolids land application is scare and where available, mostly limited to plants. Additionally, many of the existing studies focus on single species bioassays and use external additions of ESOCs (spiking experiments) and/or use biosolids application rates that are not environmentally relevant. [...]
As of April 2016, there are over 157 drinking water advisories in 111 First Nation communities in Canada. For decades, decision makers at the federal level focused on providing technical solutions through new treatment plant infrastructure. However, many now believe that technical solutions that do not meaningfully incorporate a community’s perspective and local knowledge will [...]
To understand the physical and chemical mechanisms regulating lead dissolution in drinking water distribution systems, this project included a detailed analysis of solid lead corrosion scales harvested from lead pipes from communities with different water quality characteristics, dissolution experiments of pure lead species and lead corrosion scales, and continuous pipe loop dissolution experiments using pipes [...]