 Industry News
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OCWA is proud to partner with the Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) on several initiatives - including the student industry engagement day featured in this issue of Waterline and others that support the growth of the water sector. SOWC recently released it
s
2016 Annual Report
and we encourage anyone interested in the development of innovative water technologies to give it a read. We look forward to our continued work with SOWC.
The Government of Canada announced on March 9, 2017 that it is on track with commitments to improve water and wastewater infrastructure in First Nation communities. According to the
news release
, in 2016-2017 investments in water infrastructure projects will go toward addressing more than 60 per cent of existing long-term drinking water advisories affecting Indigenous and Northern Affairs-funded public systems on reserve.
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Upcoming Events
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Training
OCWA Hands-On Wastewater Training Ontario
June 13 - 14, 2017
The Training Team along with the Georgian Highlands Region will be delivering OCWA's third Hands-on Wastewater Training Ontario (HOWW TO) at the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Wasaga Beach. The past two events were extremely well received. This is an opportunity for operators to secure two days of interactive hands-on training and connect with other water professionals from across Ontario.
Conferences
Ontario Water Works Association (OWWA) Conference & Tradeshow
May 7-10, 2017, Niagara Falls, ON
Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM)
NEOWWC - 54th Annual
Northeastern Ontario Water Works Conference
Canadian Water Network (CWN) Blue Cities 2017
JUNE
Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) 2017 Annual Conference and Trade Show
June 1-4, 2017, Ottawa, ON
American Water Works Association (AWWA) 2017 Annual Conference
8th Annual Canadian Water Summit
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| OCWA News
OCWA Pilot Program Pays You to Reduce Power Usage
Earn a cash incentive on every kWh of energy savings
Water and wastewater treatmen
t plants can be energy hogs. But did you know you can maximize energy efficiency in your plant operations while keeping costs down? More and more of our clients are taking advantage of OCWA's comprehensive pilot program that identifies opportunities for energy savings, recommends the best available technologies to do the job, and then pays an incentive on the savings once retrofits or upgrades are completed.
Indra Maharjan, OCWA's Program Manager, Energy Conservation and Climate Change, explains:
"We look primarily at energy efficiencies that can be gained through equipment retrofit, process optimization, and operational and behavioral changes. Measurement and Verification and Monitoring and Targeting tools are used to help in the process of benchmarking and validating annual energy and cost savings."
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OCWA's Sam Sianas, Operations Manager, Elgin & Middlesex (right), presents Alymer Mayor Greg Currie with a certificate for participating in the P4P pilot.
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Once the energy efficiency changes are completed, OCWA offers a pay-for-performance (P4P) incentive for every kilowatt hour of verified annual energy savings from the project. The incentive is made possible through financial support from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), to a maximum of 50 per cent of eligible project costs.
More than 120 Ontario municipalities have already accessed OCWA's energy services, resulting in 80 energy efficient retrofit projects. To date, these projects have generated approximately 20,000 GWh in cumulative annual energy savings and have received more than $1 million in incentives
through the IESO Save on Energy program and
the new OCWA/IESO P4P Pilot Energy Initiative.
The P4P program is delivered through OCWA to its customers on behalf of IESO. With P4P, water professionals from OCWA support and manage the entire process on behalf of the client ...
Continue full article here
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OCWA hosts industry engagement day for students
Making the jump from university to work is a major transition for students. What career opportunities are there for someone with my training? What kind of emerging technology should I know about? How do I craft the best resume?
Recognizing this challenge, the Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) teamed up with OCWA to hold a student industry engagement day in March.
It was the second in a series of engagement events SOWC held for a select group of graduate, PhD and post-doc students to learn about water technology innovation, with a focus on biosolids, and what it takes to be successful in the field. The students, who are all involved in biosolids research, visited South Peel's GE Booth wastewater facility on March 1, where they presented their thesis to a panel of OCWA judges and received technical feedback.
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OCWA experts shared career tips and best practices with the students.
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Following the presentations, there was an OCWA panel discussion on Advice from Industry, Making the Transition from Academia to Corporate Life. Students appreciated the "variety of views and experiences shared during the career panel"
and said it helped them better understand the challenges and pitfalls they may face when transitioning from academia to work. The day finished with a tour of the South Peel GE Booth plant.
OCWA was pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with SOWC on this event and would like to thank all our experts who took the time to participate and make the day a success.
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Staff Announcement: OCWA's new Director of Engineering
 We are pleased to announce that Lisa Babel is OCWA's new Director of Engineering Services. She is taking over from Sangeeta Chopra, who is now Director, Process Optimization and Technical Services.
Lisa is a Chemical Engineer from the University of Waterloo with more than 25 years' experience in the environmental consulting engineering and project management field. She spent more than 20 years with Hatch Ltd. providing engineering services, specializing in the areas of water and wastewater treatment and management for the mining and metallurgical industries.
For the past year, Lisa has been operating her own consulting company, providing water expertise to international and domestic mining companies.
Great to have you on board, Lisa.
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New appointment to OCWA Board of Directors
OCWA is pleased to welcome Debbie Korolnek to our Board of Directors.
Debbie has more than 30 years' experience in the field of municipal engineering. She is currently the General Manager, Engineering, Planning and Environment, for Simcoe County. A graduate of the University of Guelph in 1983 with a B.Sc. in Water Resources Engineering, Debbie began her career in consulting engineering working in municipal water and wastewater.
In 1991 she joined the Regional Municipality of York as a project engineer, and worked in several positions to eventually become the General Manager, Water and Wastewater in 2005.
Debbie left York Region in 2008 to pursue a broader career in Public Works with the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, where she worked with staff to develop a strategic plan for the newly formed engineering services department, combining roads, water, wastewater, development engineering and asset management and bringing in-house capital delivery. She joined Simcoe County in April 2013 and has oversight of the Planning, Solid Waste, Roads, Forestry, Economic Development, Tourism and By-Law Departments.
OCWA and our Board will benefit from Debbie's depth and range of experience and we look forward to working with her.
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OCWA in the Community
Jetting to victory at the WEAO Operations Challenge
Congratulations to our two amazing teams who participated in the Operations Challenge (OPSchallenge) at the 2017 Water Environment Association of Ontario (WEAO) Conference on Apri
l 4, 2017. The OPSchallenge sees teams competing in f
ive events that test the diverse skills required for wastewater operation and maintenance.
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OCWA Jets: Marcel Misuraca, Tom Nicol, Jason Mank, Al Robdrup. The Incinerators: Patrick Buchanan, Connie Height, Jin Cao, Kevin Smith, Ogie Milankvic.
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The OCWA Jets walked away with four top finishes in maintenance, collection, safety and lab, earning them first place overall. Their win secured the team a spot at the Water Environment Federation's Technical Expo and Conference Operations Challenge - also known as the "Wasterwater Olympics" - in Chicago this fall. The Incinerators from South Peel Wastewater were the newest competitors at WEAO and battled hard in their first competition. We look forward to seeing them compete at future events.
We're proud to have the Jets and Incinerators represent OCWA.
Saluting young water ambassadors in Espanola
OCWA Operations staff returned to A.B. Ellis Public School in Espanola last month to thank them for participating in our OneWater® Education Program. OneWater engages Grade 8 students through hands-on activities and the interaction with the local water operators who provide the community with its clean water and wastewater treatment.
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OCWA operators Natalie Wagar and Sarah Beaulieu (holding plaque) thank A.B. Ellis students for participating in the OneWater program.
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Natalie Wagar and Sarah Beaulieu, who taught the OneWater program at A.B. Ellis, presented a recognition plaque to the school. We were fortunate to have Cynthia Townsend, CAO/Treasurer of the Town of Espanola, in attendance and thank her for her support. You have some great young water ambassadors in your community and we hope that they continue to spread the message of the value of water!
As we wind down OneWater for this school year, we are holding recognition ceremonies at several schools across the province. Thanks to all the students and teachers who participated in this year's program and we look forward to expanding OneWater to more OCWA communities throughout 2017-18.
Canada Water Week Highlights
OCWA was busy during Canada Water Week (March 20-27). Here are some of the ways our staff celebrated:
Raising a Glass on World Water Day:
Employees from across OCWA gathered to "raise a glass" to honour the work of water professionals everywhere.
OCWA staff from our southwest and northwest hubs join in the toast.
Helping provide clean water for families in crisis:
To top off Canada Water Week, OCWA partnered with GlobalMedic, a not-for-profit agency that provides emergency relief in the wake of disasters and crisis, to build Family Emergency Kits (FEKs) for people affected by the conflict in Syria.
Each FEK
includes a Rainforest Household Water Purification system that
provides clean drinking water for a family of seven for up to one year, along with a
hygiene kit
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Employees from OCWA operations and corporate helped drill and assemble 400 FEKs, which are making their way to families in need.
OCWA staff helped build and pack water purification and hygiene kits for Syrian families.
Peeking behind the scenes in Stratford:
We had the opportunity to show off our operations in Stratford when the town opened its facilities for public tours on March 22 during World Water Day. Public tours are a great way to connect your community to its water facilities. Our staff enjoy showing people around, whenever possible, and educating them about their local water systems.
Celebrating Earth Day
I
n an early celebration of Earth Day, OCWA participated in Canon Canada's Environmental Education Day on April 19.
Grade 6 students from neighbouring schools gathered at Canon's new environmentally sustainable headquarters in Brampton, Ontario, and discussed how to take care of their surrounding environment.
OCWA South Peel Operations Manager, Adrian Swidzinski, was on hand to educate students on how their wastewater is treated in Peel Region and to show them some of the "bugs" under the microscope. Marketing & Communications Manager, Amy Lane, talked about the effects of non-flushables on our home and municipal infrastructure. The students were full of questions and had fun guessing the "3 Ps" of what to flush.
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