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Trendspotting

Anyone interested in the business of water in Canada will be looking to Ontario to see what, if any, effect the recently passed Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act will have on the industry. With

Reuse It or Lose It

Canada depends on its water for agricultural, industrial, and domestic uses—but does it use more than it needs? A report from the Conference Board of…

Friend and Foe

Urban roads and expansive highways propel our interconnected economy and mobile lifestyle, but a snowstorm can bring productivity crashing to a halt. Not to mention,…

Interview: Cal Watson, Devon Canada

In anticipation of the upcoming Managing Water Resources in Oil Sands In Situ Production conference in Calgary, January 26-27, we spoke with Cal Watson, Devon…

Full Disclosure

Within the evolving field of sustainability, businesses have faced a rapidly evolving series of priorities. Climate change, energy efficiency, corporate citizenship, material efficiency, waste and…

Going Solo

Roman aqueducts and sewers provide a powerful emblem of the antiquity of urban water infrastructure—centralized approaches to water and wastewater service provision may seem similarly…

Interview: Khoo Teng Chye

A densely populated island that relies heavily on rainwater, Singapore has for years imported nearly half of its supply from its neighbouring Malaysia. Two agreements,…

The Networked Field

By 2030, the world’s farms will have to produce almost 50 per cent more food than they currently do. By 2050, agricultural yields will have…

Sea Change

Victoria has faced decades of criticism for failing to treat its sewage before pumping it into the Pacific Ocean, releasing often-harmful materials into the marine…

Wasted Energy

Across the country, provinces are updating Building Code standards—or implementing policies that would allow provincial ministries to change standards. Canada’s new building code, coming in…

Interview: Jay Bhagwan

Canada has federally funded Centres of Excellence, such as the Canadian Water Network, to help facilitate water research—but how are other countries moving forward? For…

Right or Wrong?

On July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly, noting that “approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that more than…

Worth Every Penny

Canadians pay remarkably little for the water supplied to our homes and businesses compared to other developed countries (see figure 1). It’s no coincidence that…

Connecting Water to Grid

The promise is decidedly bold—a brand new, no-strings-attached source of revenue for Ontario municipalities. But Ron Dizy is confident his company, Sempa Power, can deliver.…

Sewage Secrecy

*Update* Winnipeg mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis held a press conference on Sunday demanding that Mayor Sam Katz release the details of the City of Winnipeg…

A Competitive Water Market

With just about every good or service, including some essential services, people decide how much of it they want based on its cost. When gas…

Rising Tensions

Named Deh Cho, or “big river,” by the Dene people, the Mackenzie River is one of the world’s few remaining large, free-flowing rivers, and one…

Ship Wrecked

It’s a cool, wet morning in late April 2008. Somewhere in the islands near Put-in-Bay, Ohio, Jeff Reutter, director of the Stone Lab, has just…

Operation: Efficiency

Like many other industries, the water industry is currently under pressure to do more with less. One way in which water utilities can improve their…

Operator Assistance

First Nations drinking water has had a history of infamy in Canada. In comparison to drinking water off-reserve, the quality of on-reserve water is largely…

CSR: Water

In early 2010, Intel adopted a new water policy that reinforces the company’s commitment to conservation and respect for the human right to water. As…

Barrier One

Source water protection—an essential first barrier in a multi-barrier approach to safe drinking water—has been the focus of a number of recent provincial strategies, laws…

Full Cycle

It may come as a surprise to some within the water industry, but the practice of water reuse and recycling has been around for about…