The Government of Canada is investing $120 billion over the next 10 years to build strong, inclusive and sustainable communities and they want to hear from you. Phase 1 is already underway, and now the Government of Canada is inviting you to share your views on Phase 2 of Canada’s infrastructure plan.

I’ll be sharing a fuller report to you within the next month on what role the CWWA has been playing on the infrastructure front. The budget was announced months ago, perhaps without a clear process in place, but things have been moving along well.

The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), as the national voice for the municipal water and wastewater sector, has reviewed the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. Through its National Committee on Climate Change, the CWWA provided comments on Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change, and Goal 2: Clean Technology Jobs and Innovation.

Forget the US and Mexican Presidents. Ottawa also hosted a meeting of the CWWA Exec. Director and the BC Recreational Facilities Association Exec. Director. That's Dwayne Kalynchuk of Victoria...our former BC Board member and long-serving Secretary-Treasurer, in town for FCM Green Municipal Fund work (as a project adjudicator) and a chance to chat about flushable wipes efforts. Dwayne represents CWWA and APWA/CPWA on the Technical Committee developing new industry guidelines (or at least trying to).

We are excited to announce that the preliminary program for the Conference is online. We have fantastic sessions on wastewater management, drinking water issues, water research, climate change, utility security and energy and water efficiency.

CWWA’s Window On Ottawa was back...and better than ever! Shifted from its regular Fall time slot to June 8th & 9th, CWWA’s signature event returned with an outstanding agenda of topics and speakers.

Article by Dr Colin Hayes, a Director at YOULEARNWATER LTD, July 2016

The demonstration project evaluated a range of sampling methods and supporting techniques for tackling lead in drinking water in Alberta Province. It concluded that a risk assessment/management approach would be better suited to tackling the lead in drinking water problem than the sampling protocols currently recommended by Health Canada. This article is a preview of the paper to be published next month in the Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology – AQUA.

Article by Dr Colin Hayes, a Director at YOULEARNWATER LTD, July 2016

Much has been written about the lead in drinking water "disaster" in Flint, Michigan. To save money, the municipality switched their water supply source to a local river and omitted to dose the corrosion inhibitor that had been added to the previous supply from Detroit, resulting in elevated lead at the tap. This article concludes that water safety planning, allied to appropriate sampling and investigative techniques will go a long way to averting a similar "disaster" in Canada.

We are pleased to announce that four of Canada’s most accomplished sustainable business and community networks have partnered in an effort to help the Government of Canada reach its Paris Agreement climate goals and accelerate the nation’s shift to a low-carbon economy.

The founding members of The Low Carbon Partnership are Climate Smart, Sustainability CoLab, The Natural Step, and QUEST - established organizations with deep roots in communities and local economies across the country. Collectively, the partners reach more than 1,200 businesses generating $100 billion in revenue. They’re also in direct contact with 200 communities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program just celebrated its 10 year anniversary! WaterSense labelled products, which are independently certified to use at least 20 per cent less water and perform as well or better than standard models, have been on the market since 2007 when toilets first earned the label. Since then, the number of labelled models has grown to more than 16,000, including products found in residential and commercial bathrooms, commercial kitchens, and for outdoor irrigation.

The Government of Canada took a first step, June 20, 2016, to deliver on its commitment to review and restore confidence in Canada’s environmental assessment process. The review will focus on

On May 16, 2016, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change provided the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development with a discussion paper outlining topics to be addressed as part of the upcoming comprehensive review of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999).

The government recently announced a List of Substances in the next phase of the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) and Two-year Rolling Risk Assessment Publication Plan. The new plans incorporate current approaches to identifying chemicals and polymers as risk assessment priorities by tracking a larger number of information sources to identify emerging issues and prioritize substances requiring further investigation.

Quebec’s Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Mr. David Heurtel, recently a bill aimed at modernizing the environmental approvals process established under section 22 of Quebec’s Environment Quality Act (EQA).

Canada and the United States recently identified eight substances as chemicals of mutual concern under the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

Ontario recently released the province’s Climate Change Action Plan, which will provide people and businesses with tools and incentives to accelerate the use of clean technology that exists today. Through this plan, the province will continue to reduce greenhouse gas pollution to fight climate change.

EPA
Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the WaterSense program 10 years ago, Americans have saved $32.6 billion in water and energy bills and 1.5 trillion gallons of water, which is more than the amount of water needed to supply all of the homes in California for a year.

Water Online
Firefighters in a Colorado town faced a water infrastructure challenge during a kitchen fire this month that had fatal consequences. The firefighters from Aurora, CO, were "forced to pump water from fire trucks when a malfunctioning water pipe failed to provide what they needed," The Denver Post reported.

Water Online
Donald Trump has had a lot to say about the Mexican border, but he has yet to speak at length on what is arguably one of the trickiest and most important border issues: water. As the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Trump has proposed to build a wall along a large part of the U.S.-Mexico border. He says he will compel Mexico to pay for it.

Water Online
The company confirmed "that it has agreed to pay for a treatment facility to re-use water for evaporative cooling in its Prineville, OR, data centers. By recycling water for Apple instead of taking it straight from the tap, the city says its new facility will save nearly 5 million gallons a year," The Oregonian reported this month.

Water Online
Water and wastewater municipalities are on a constant search for new tools. At the mercy of developers, they hope that the latest, most efficient, most cutting-edge technologies and methods will arrive to help them improve practices and cut down on costs.

CTV News
The water supply of about 69,000 people has been affected by an oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River, the province’s Water Security Agency says.

Muskoka Region
An emergency response simulation has shown that Muskoka’s water systems can recover from a targeted attack.

Sarnia Observer
Staff at the water treatment plant serving Sarnia and five other communities will keep an eye out this summer for blue-green algal blooms in Lake Huron, over its intake pipe.

Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver-headquartered company that has already carved a niche out of harvesting phosphorus from the sewage treatment process to make fertilizer is betting it’s on the path to bigger business with its latest installation.