Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine (ESEMAG) September 2004

Engineers unique stormwater

duct

Greenhouses for wastewater treatment

Kingston expands its WWTP

Water quaiity chaiienges for smaii systems Ontario's new

Brownfieids Reguiation 153

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Water for the World

3

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^

-C-

M

ISSN-0835-605X

September 2004 Vol. 17 No. 4

Issued September 2004 ÂŁS<SE invites articles (approx. 1000 words) on water, wastewater, hazardous waste treat ment and other environmental protection top

ics. If you are interested in submitting an arti cle for consideration, please contact Steve Davey at steve@esemag.com. Please note that Environmental Science & Engineering Publications inc. reserves the right to edit ail submissions without notice.

FEATURES 7

But who will guard the Kyoto Samurai? Editorial by Tom Davey

8

Mobile water treatment facility use rises

10 12

Multi-stage scrubber system eliminates pumping station odours Lightweight storm sewer system completed in Richmond, BC

14 16

Victoria takes first steps towards stormwater pollution prevention Cover story - Engineers design unique stormwater duct under urban section of TransCanada Highway

18

Stormceptor excels in a rare 10G-year plus storm

20

Sliplining used to refurbish an historic 214 year old bridge

22

Potential health risk advisory issued for vermiculite insulation

24

Athens treatment facilities provided offshore engineering challenges

26

Unique design uses greenhouses for wastewater treatment

28

Peel Region begins $600 million expansion of its water and waste-

Page 14

water facilities

30

PEI releases new report on pesticide regulations

32

How small communities can tackle water quality challenges

36

New pipeline to increase Regina's water supply

38

Understanding Ontario's new Brownfields Regulation 153

42

Emergency response planning for fixed facilities

44

Calgary to host 56th Annual WCWWA conference

45

BO professor to receive top water quality award at WEFTEC

48

DEPARTIVIENTS Product Showcase

65

Literature Reviews

70

Classifieds

71

Removing uranium from water supplies vital to public health

Professional Cards

72

50

Germany invests in hydrogen fuel systems

Environmental News

52

Is the tide set to turn for clean power?

54

Wastewater treatment plant upgrades in Kingston

57

Attendance up 13% at BCWWA's annual conference

59

Ultrasound used to solve toxic oil sands problem

61

Reducing noise levels in wastewater treatment facilities

4 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Ad Index

70-76 77

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Editorial

But who will guard the ACfifoto^ Samurai?

The Kyoto Accord has dominat ed environmental media cover

age for years, yet the basic facts remain obscure to the vast

majority of Canadians, even those who avidly support it. The Accord is a combination of complex environmen tal factors including climate change, economics, history and political sci ence. Its avowed goal 'to reduce glob al warming' is certainly admirable, even vital, and Kyoto's reach could span most nations.

Unfortunately, Kyoto is like a pro posed global orchestra with some of the main players missing. Indeed, it does not even have a conductor. Many significant emissions' contributors are absent while others obdurately remain in the wings while the drama unfolds.

In an environmental orchestration of

industrial emissions, the big drums of China, the United States, India, and perhaps Russia, are silent while Canada's emissions - insignificant on the global scale - will enfeeble us and weaken our voice in getting other play ers to join in. If politicians can enjoy this Kyoto "open air" concert without paying, why should they sign the accord? And while we are on the

orchestral analogy, discord, not accord, might be a more appropriate word.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that Britain will have to

build a new generation of nuclear power stations to meet the challenges of climate change and that the US was encouraging them to look again at nuclear options. Ontario, too, is look ing to nuclear energy to solve its chronic power shortages. I predict that many vociferous advocates of Kyoto will be angered by this trend, but as I wrote earlier, climate change has many volatile facets.

Proponents of emissions' reduction include myself, having written about the possibility of global warming back

in 1968. What bothers me is not the

Kyoto protocols, but their enforce ment. International cooperation has had a very poor record in human histo ry, our species seemingly addicted to having major wars every decade.

When ancient Rome dominated our

globe, much as the United States does today, if proposed legislation was being debated, any objections were dismissed with the phrase: "Oh the guards will see to that." The poet, Juvenal, responded with a telling phrase which has retained its validity over the centuries. To Roman legisla tors he enquired: "Swf who will guard the guards?"

His rejoinder is still valid today. Indeed, just who will measure Kyoto's witch's brew of complexities: the political, legal, sci entific, geographic and economic issues? The European Union and our Free Trade Agreement did not stop serious trade disputes. And then, too, who will enforce Kyoto standards?

Canada,

under

former

Prime

Minister, Jean Chretien, signed the Protocol, despite his government being unable to manage relatively easy national issues such as a gun control registry, which so far, has been a fias co and cost well over $1.5 billion and

counting; or being able to account for over $1 billion of spending on Human Resources; or the federal Adscam

Sponsorship Scheme which, unac countably, lacked accounting proto cols.

Almost no one promoting Kyoto mentions the problems in enforcing emissions' trading - which will be like rolling the dice with Rubic's Cubes.

Emissions' trading, I believe, was first proposed by the late Professor Dales at the University of Toronto. Emissions' trading will be a Gordian Knot of epic proportions. A recent Toronto Star arti cle asked:"Why are we even question ing Kyoto?"The writer. Ken Ogilvie, is Executive Director of Pollution Probe.

By Tom Davey, Editor

While he eloquently recited some of the undeniable dangers inherent in global warming, a key word was absent - implementation. Just how do we implement and enforce the Kyoto Protocols? Doubtless, there are future

environmental technologies emerging that will help solve some of the prob lems.

The evolution of printing provides a good example of technology induced change. When I was a young reporter in Australia, newspaper printing was a dark foundry-like operation where lead ingots were melted and poured into type under the orange glow of gas fur naces. Both typesetting, page compo sition and printing were physical, ener gy-intensive operations in toxic envi ronments. Zinc plates were used for photographs and artwork. Guttenberg would have recognized this lead type printing process immediately. But, after several centuries, lead type gave way to camera-ready paper type called cold type - which was pasted on boards along with artwork, then filmed, a process which, incidently, used another heavy metal, silver, as well as other chemicals.

But industrial evolution quickly ensured this new process had a much shorter life than lead typesetting.

Today most printing, thanks to com puters, is done with a fraction of the energy and toxicity of these earlier processes.

Nowadays, used computers present a formidable disposal problem but sci ence almost certainly will find ways to recycle them, as the very nature of scicontinued overleaf...

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 7

EnvironmentalScience

Water Treatment

& Engineering Editor

TOM DAVEY

E-mail: tom@esemag.com (No attachments please)

Mobile water treatment

Managing Editor SANDRA DAVEY E-mail: sandra@esemag.com Sales Director

PENNY DAVEY

E-mail: penny@esemag.com Sales Representative DENISE SIMPSON E-mail: denise@esemag.com

facility use rises

Municipal drinking water

facilities, power plants, refineries, chemical plants

Circulation Manager VIRGINIA MEYER E-mail: virginia@esemag,com Design & Production CAROL SHELTON E-mail: carol@esemag.com Publisher

STEVE DAVEY

E-mail: steve@esemag.com

Technical Advisory Board Jim Bishop Stantec Consulting Ltd., Ontario Bill Boriase, P.Eng. City of Winnipeg, Manitoba George V. Crawford, P.Eng., M.A.Sc.

and various other indus

tries all need an uninterrupted supply of high-quality water. Sometimes fac tors such as a drought, contaminated water, a change in process water quali ty requirements or the shutdown of a water treatment system for mainte nance, affect a plant's ability to meet its purified water needs. When that happens, the plant needs an alternative water supply - fast.

CH2M HiLL, Ontario

Mobile water treatment offers a Bill De Angeiis, P.Eng. AWS Engineers & Planners Corp., Ontario

quick, cost-effective solution. A phone

Dr. Robert C. Landine

provider sets the wheels in motion, and a trailer containing water treatment equipment soon arrives at the cus tomer's site. It's not only emergency

call to a mobile ADi Systems inc., New Brunswick Peter Laughton, M.Eng., P.Eng., DEE R.V. Anderson Associates Limited, Ontario Barry Loescher, Ph.D.

water treatment

Philip Anaiyticai Services, British Columbia

situations that call for mobile water

Stanley Mason, P.Eng.

treatment, however. Mobile trailers

British Columbia Marie Meunier

John Meunier inc., Quebec

Environmental Science & Engineering is a bi-monthly business publication of Environmental Science & Engineering Publications inc. An ail Canadian publica tion, ES&E provides authoritative editorial coverage of Canada's municipal and industrial environmental control systems and drinking water treatment and distribution.

Readers include consulting engineers, industrial plant managers and engineers, key municipal, provincial and federal environmental officials, water and wastewater

plant operators and contractors. information contained in ES&E has been compiled from sources believed to be correct. £S<S£ cannot be respon sible for the accuracy of articles or other editorial mat ter. Although the information contained in this magazine is believed to be correct, no responsibility is assumed.

Articles in this magazine are intended to provide infor mation rather than give legal or other professional advice. Articles being submitted for review should be e-maiied to carol@esemag.com.

pmnBPA Canadian Pubiications Maii Saies Second Ciass Mail

¥

Product Agreement No.40065446 Registration No.7750 Printed in Canada. No part of this pub OPCE4 lication may be reproduced by any means without written permission of the publisher. Yearly subscription rates: ' Canada $75.00 (plus $5.25 GST).

Ail advertising space orders, copy, art work, film, proofs, etc., should be sent to: Environmental Science & Engineering, 220 industrial Pkwy.S., Unit 30, Aurora,Ontario, Canada, L4G 3V6, Tei: (905)727-4666, Fax: (905) 841-7271, Web site: www.esemag. com

provide purified water for pilot facili ties, interim use until a permanent sys tem is installed, system scale-up, zero discharge applications and scheduled maintenance of permanent systems.

With water shortages, more strin gent environmental regulations and the cost of capital equipment on the rise, more businesses are choosing mobile water treatment for emergency, seaEditorial continued... ence is the continuation of multi-disci

plinary research and experimentation.

Thirty years ago there was no internet, home computers, cell phones, fax machines, CDs, DVDs, fibre optics, orthoscopic surgeries and nanotechnologies.

Will the straight-jacket of Kyoto be flexible enough to efficiently utilize the dynamic emerging technologies?

Most of our present technologies were once dismissed as speculative fantasies when postulated. Will Kyoto recognize and promote new and ingenious inven tions which could save energy and reduce pollution - or will they be still born? And once again, as Juvenal enquired when ancient Rome was introducing new laws: "But who will guard the guards?" ■

sonal and short-term water treatment needs.

"We've seen a significant increase in the number of requests for emer gency mobile treatment and temporary mobile treatment contracts over the

past few years," says Pete Sesing, USFilter's vice president for mobile and onsite services.

A recent treatment project involved the Cucamonga Valley Water District in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

USFilter provided emergency trailers for nitrate removal from a dormant

well that needed to be brought back on line during a water shortage. In late May 2004, the water district learned that its normal supply of water would be interrupted in a week because of emergency supply line work. This shutdown would have caused a 60-percent reduction in the water supply to 43,000 connections. USFilter sent multiple mobile units to the well site in Rancho Cucamonga. Each unit processed 400 gallons per minute of influent well water, removing the nitrate with an NSF-certified resin.

The mobile services allowed an unin

terrupted supply of treated water for the district, with no waste discharge at the site. Besides bringing the well on line, the mobile treatment provided an additional 10 million gallons of water during the emergency water shortage.

In the industrial sector, USFilter has provided mobile water treatment to power plants requiring extra water capacity. In June 2004, two emergency mobile trailers were supplied to PSEG Power's Mercer Generating Station in Trenton, New Jersey, preventing a plant shutdown. A sudden increase in water demand, combined with the dis covery of colloidal silica in the city water, meant that the plant needed

mobile trailers with carbon pre-treatment, reverse osmosis and demineralization.

"We were literally minutes away from being shut down because of the demineralized water demand," says Mark Schwartzkopf, senior environ mental engineer. Mercer Generating Station.

Contact: WM'w.usfilter.com 8 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

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Private homes, condominiums, a day care facility, and a golf course have been constructed on residential

and commercial lands located very close to the facility. As the population of the area grew and the sewage flow to the station increased, odours emitted

from the facility became a nuisance.

The Regional Municipality of York retained Conestoga-Rovers & Associates (CRA)to perform air sampling, identi

fy the odour causing compounds, assess regulatory requirements, and design an odour control facility Asco Construction Ltd. began con struction of the odour control facility in the fall of 2002. The scrubber sys tem was installed and put into com plete operation by the spring of 2003.

The system includes Duall Division model NH exhaust fans, ducting, Fybroc 1500 Series fiberglass recycle pumps, and chemical supply tanks along with the scrubber.

The Duall model PT510 multi stage scrubber system is designed to treat 22,363 cfm of process exhaust air con taining ammonia and hydrogen sulfide odours. It is designed to remove 99% of ammonia at minimum inlet concen

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diameter second stage scrubber is designed to remove more than 99% of the hydrogen sulfide odours at mini mum inlet concentrations of 60 ppmv.

This is a relatively high concentration of hydrogen sulfide, due primarily to the frequent inflow of septage collect ed at the station from private waste haulers. The second stage utilizes sodi um hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite addition to achieve the required hydrogen sulfide removal.

The scrubbers are constructed of

corrosion resistant. High Strength Type II PVC conforming to ASTM D 1784 standards. The system is expect ed to operate at approximately 6" of positive air pressure. Both scrubbers are constructed for nearly 20" of posi tive operating air pressure, providing a safety factor in excess of3. The system is also designed in accordance with Universal Building Code seismic zone 2A requirements with a safety factor in excess of eight.

Duall Division is represented in Ontario by Metcon Sales & Engineering Ltd. Contact e-mail: metcon@metconeng.com.

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10 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

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LOCALt

FOCUS ON... Stormwater Management

City of Richmond lightweight storm sewer system

By Phil Carroll and Scott Groves

In the spring of 2003, the City of Richmond in British Columbia

identified the existing 240 m long open ditch adjacent to Westminster Highway North as a candidate for a

these parameters: • 320 kPa pipe stiffness at 5% deflec tion - essential given the poor ground conditions.

• 6 m nominal length between joints.

• Bell and elastomeric rubber gasket joint certified to CSA B 182.8-02.

• Handling weight of 73 lbs per lineal

ditch enclosure and installation of a

metre.

600 mm diameter storm sewer by the City Operations. Upgrading stormwa ter conveyance from an open ditch to a storm sewer is normally a routine task, except in this area of Richmond, which is characterized by: • Low bearing capacity subgrades.

• High groundwater table/flooding.

• Aggressive soil chemistry and agri

• Bedding and haunch gravel- 19 mm diameter clear granular crush gravel.

• Backfill above bedding and haunch es to 300 mm over pipe - river sand to take advantage of its light weight.

• Native light peat organic mix to sur

cultural run-off.

Given these ground conditions, the City of Richmond specified a light weight storm sewer pipe, an open cor rugated smooth inner wall HOPE pipe commonly known as BOSS 2000 with

SEWAGE

face.

The City worked with local suppli ers to look at ways of reducing the weight of each of the three manholes, measuring 1.49 m to 2.3 m deep. As a result, the following were installed: • 1,067 mm diameter corrugated HOPE manhole risers, weighing 88 lbs per lineal metre.

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12 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

• Integral fusion welded HOPE stubs fitted with bell connections.

• Pre-installed ladder rungs in each HDPE manhole riser.

• Bases were cast-in-place concrete poured in the field to British Columbia's MMCD Specification Drawing SI (Standard and Sump Manholes).

• Lids were pre-cast concrete resting directly on the compacted granular material surrounding the riser - this would enable the lid to carry the live load of traffic in the road shoulder.

The estimated weight comparison for the riser components, was approxi mately: - Concrete Riser (1,600 lbs per lineal metre of height)) - HDPE Riser (88 lbs per lineal metre of height) Field drain tie-ins were completed with insertable tees ranging in size from 150 mm to 300 mm diameter,

each fitted with a rubber gasket, PVC lead and pipe clamp. This allowed for simple installation and a flexible leak resistant joint.

At the inlet of this storm sewer sec

tion, City Operations installed a light weight polymer composite headwall, commonly known as Pro-Eco-Lite headwall. The headwall was fitted with

a polymer composite (non-rusting) trash rack and factory-installed pipe stub. With an overall height of 1.3 m, the headwall weighed approximately 230 lbs - light enough to be supported on the soft, saturated subgrade.

The innovative lightweight storm sewer was successfully installed by City Operations over a three week time period from start to finish. Recent inspections of the site indicate that the design has proven to be a success.

Phil Carroll, P.Eng., is Region Engineer (Western Canada), Armtec Limited and Scott Groves, P.Eng., is Project Engineer, City ofRichmond.

Contact e-mail: pcarroll@anntec.com.

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FOCUS ON... Stormwater Management

Victoria takes

first steps towards stormwater

pollution prevention

By Winston Tang and Becky Metivier

Victoria, the capital of British

Columbia, is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Once a main port for trade and commerce, today the City has become a world-renowned tourist

Above, the grit chamber is instailed in the VortechsÂŽ System. The design of the grit chamber enhances the separation process. Unobstructed access to the grit chamber, where pollutants are sequestered, makes inspection and maintenance of the system very easy.

mecca, known for its moderate cli the harbour and marine environment.

proactive approach, and start treating the runoff at its source - the stormwa

tial. Preventing water quality degrada

During a survey conducted by one federal agency. Rock Bay was identi fied as the most polluted bay in the Victoria and Esquimalt Harbours, and

tion has come to the forefront of envi

stormwater runoff was determined to

ronmental concerns for the City, which has recently undertaken many stormwater pollution prevention initia

be the primary source. The bay is located alongside a six-lane roadway, which serves as a major throughway into the City. The existing storm drain

mate, natural beauty, and recreation sites. Environmental stewardship is a strong community value, and the pro tection of natural resources is essen

tives.

Victoria's storm drainage system discharged urban runoff directly into the adjacent harbour without any treat ment. Stormwater from parking lots, roadways or industrial sites often car ries sediments, oil, grease, trash and other contaminants. Left untreated, these pollutants cause great harm to

discharged storm flows from a 32.9-

hectare (81.3 acre) area that was pre dominantly paved. Because of the impervious nature of the area, and the historical industrial uses of the Rock

Bay region, the bay's ecology was being contaminated.

City officials decided to take a

ter outfall at Rock Bay. Working with Consulting Engineer Troy Jones of Kerr Wood Leidal Associates, the City began a search to find a stormwater treatment system that would meet their needs. A comprehensive search for stormwater treatment systems was done in order to find one that would

work within the site's many constraints and also provide the necessary pollu tant removal.

Ultimately, the Vortechs* System, a hydrodynamic separator by Vortechnics, Inc., was chosen. Non-mechanical and

gravity driven, the system uses a patented combination of vortex action

.-'yf

Left: To accommodate high flows generated on the site, the Vortechs System was cast-in-place, shown here during con struction. Right: The relatively small footprint of the system made it compact enough to fit into the tight site.

14 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

FOCUS ON... Stormwater Management and flow controls to capture pollutants and retain them throughout even the most intense storm event.

The Vortechs System needed to be connected to the existing infrastruc ture. Multiple site challenges arose.

Not only would the system be installed directly underneath the roadway among the many utility and fiber-optic cables, but because of the close prox imity to the shoreline, tides and high groundwater had to be considered.

The City was also limited in the amount of space available for installa

tion. After reviewing 28 years of pre cipitation data, it was determined that flow from the large drainage area could reach rates of up to 880 1/s (31.1 cfs). Vortechnics offered a cast-inplace system, which was chosen for the Rock Bay site. The total system dimensions were 3.8 metres (12.5 feet) high by 5.3 metres (17.4 feet) wide by 7.4 metres (24.3 feet) long. The system was sized to treat 1100 1/s (39 cfs) while achieving an 80% annual total suspended solids (TSS) removal of

particles down to the 50-micron size.

The relatively small footprint of the

system made it compact enough to fit into the tight site.

G&E Equipment of Sidney, British Columbia, constructed the system on site. The Vortechs System is horizontal in design. This low profile meant a shallow excavation, which decreased time during installation, and also less ened the need for dewatering in the high groundwater environment.

"Improving surface water quality has been an important goal of the City for many years," said Gary Pleven, City of Victoria pollution abatement officer. "This passive system technol ogy will reduce the amount of sedi ments, oils, and debris being released into the harbour."

Installing the system is only the first step in ensuring stormwater pollu tion prevention. Like all stormwater pollutant removal systems, periodic inspection and maintenance is essen tial to guarantee its long-term perform ance. Because the Vortechs System offers unobstructed access to accumu

lated pollutants through a manhole on top ofthe system, the City will be able to easily inspect the system and per

form any necessary maintenance.

Main-taining the system will also be cost-effective because the shallow sys tem has a small pump-out volume.

Preventing and controlling stormwater-borne pollution is one of the pri orities

of

Environment

Canada's

Georgia Basin Action Plan. "Mitiga ting non-point source pollution re quires a combination of innovative approaches, from pollution preven tion-based solutions in the watershed

to managing water quality at the endof-pipe," says Laura Mclean of Environment Canada.

The City of Victoria plans to stay at the forefront by continuing to install additional stormwater systems through out the city, removing pollutants that would have previously ended up in their marine waters and ensuring a clean harbour environment that can be

enjoyed by all.

Winston Tang, Ma.SC, P.E., EST is with Environmental Technologies and Becky Metivier is with Vortechnics, Inc. Contact e-mail:

bmetivier@vortechnics.com.

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 15

FOCUS ON...Stormwater Management

Engineers design unique stormwater duct under urban section of TransCanada Highway

By Michael Chau,City of Calgary and Randy Giberson, Lafarge Canada Inc.

Construction of the Rundle

Underground Storage Duct in Calgary, Alberta, was far more

than

the

installation

I

of a

unique underground stormwater man agement structure. Location of the construction site presented a signifi cant challenge to the design engineers since the only space available for the

WHJBS^

installation was the 22-metre wide median of the east- and west-bound lanes of 16 Avenue N.E. In addition to

serving the City as a main east-west artery, 16 Avenue N.E. is also a section of the TransCanada Highway- a major link between eastern and western

Canada. Along with the space limita tions, the 6.5 to 9.0 metres depth-ofbury was a significant consideration for equipment access and material selection for the structure.

The project consisted of a two-cell (each cell measuring 2400 mm wide x 3000 mm high) concrete duct, 550 metres long with cover up to 5.65 metres over the duct. This would

It Is critical to public safety that structures such as the Rundle

stormwater duct not undergo brittle shear failures. If the shear rein

Installation of box units for underground stormwater storage structure designed using software that heips engineers and specifiers reduce design time and COStiy over-designs on projects.

Photo; Randy Giberson Š 2004

require an excavation depth in excess of 9 metres. The project also included two 2400 mm x 5500 mm east-in-

place maintenance access manholes that connected the two-cell duct to an

existing duct with 1800 mm concrete pipe. The maintenance access man holes were located about 100 m from

each end of the duct. City of Calgary Wastewater completed the engineer ing, in collaboration with Mack, Slack and

Associates

Inc.

and

lane while the second served as a haul

Engineering Consultants Ltd., located in Calgary.

road for delivery of the boxes. The east lane had to be re-opened to two lanes during peak times of 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Work could only occur for ten hours between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Both sched

The 7,200-m^ underground storage

excessive, however, it is a waste of resources and contrary to princi ples of sustainable development.

An investigation into shear

structure was built to relieve flooding in northeast Calgary due to severe rainstorm events. Damage from these rainstorms included street and proper ty flooding, basement seepage, man hole lids blowing off, and sanitary backup. Two of the communities most affected by this flooding included Pineridge and Rundle. The Rundle duct will collect stormwater during major rainfalls, detain it, and then slowly release it back to the storm

is being undertaken at the University of Toronto. When com pleted, the research is expected to have a significant impact on the cost of buried infrastructure and the

use of resources for producing pre cast concrete boxes. But most sig nificantly, the research will have a profound impact on design method ology and principles used in indus try and academia for concrete structures.

bound traffic could be reduced to one

EBA

forcement in these structures is

behaviour of concrete box culverts

support the crane, as well as the final soil backfill, resulted in the precast box culvert option being lower cost than the cast-in-place option.

The production and installation schedules were very important consid erations of the project since the City could not close 16 Avenue N.E., and had to keep lane restrictions to a mini mum so as not to disrupt traffic. East

ules had to be timed to ensure that

product would be available and arrive on-site when required by the erews.

There was no room for on-site storage, so just-in-time delivery from Lafarge's plant 16 kilometres away became crit ical to the cost of construction.

BoxCar, a software program devel oped by the U.S. Federal Highway

sewer system.

Administration

During the project tendering stage, Whissell Contraeting asked Lafarge engineers if they could design precast boxes to support an American 5299 fifty-ton crane to place the two paral lel lines of box units. The design to

Concrete Pipe Association during the 1990s, was used in the design stage of

16 Environmental Sdence & Engineering,September 2004

and

the American

the precast concrete boxes. The pro gram helps engineers and specifiers reduce design time and costly overdesigns on projects using precast con-

FOCUS ON...Stormwater Management Crete box units. Deriving its name from

box culvert analysis and reinforcing design, this popular interactive pro gram can be used to calculate reinforc ing steel areas for user-specified box geometry, material properties, and loading area. The program was used to analyze the precast boxes that would support the crane, the backfill loads of the median and the structural elements

of the stormwater storage duct. It was particularly useful for the contractor during the tendering stage of the proj ect to get speedy and accurate answers to critical questions.

To determine the required reinforc ing, parameters of the specified boxes were entered into BoxCar, and then Lafarge engineers extracted the load cases applicable to the crane load sce nario. The final structural load cases and the steel reinforcement were then

designed according to the worst-case load combinations. Design parameters included conditions on the crane such

as maximum allowable reach, and the use of crane pads. The analysis also proved that the boxes could be

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designed with adequate strength for performance and durability without requiring stirrups for shear reinforce ment.

The 151-page engineering report summarized for the City of Calgary included all hand calculations, all printouts from BoxCar used in the analysis, and steps taken throughout the analysis.

Work began on March 20, 2003, with preparation of the site for the installation of the boxes. The first box

was shipped to the site on April 7 with the last of the 542 arriving on June 13.

The contractor was able to install an

average of 14 boxes per day of con struction. The job was completed June 30, 102 days after start-up. Installation of the boxes took place over 67 days.

In the plant, production of the special ly designed box units started on February 19, and ended ninety-four days later on May 24.

The design team for the Rundle/16 Avenue N.E. project used engineering principles, contemporary design soft ware, and life cycle cost considerations

to ensure an economic and safe project that will serve the people of the area for generations. Resources have to be used wisely - more so than ever before considering the high costs of infra structure rehabilitation and growth issues facing our cities. The Rundle underground storage duct may be con sidered a leading-edge project that employed engineering principles that are currently being enhanced by uni versity-based research (see inset) for tackling complex and costly infrastruc ture projects.

The unique stormwater duct project was partially funded by the Infrastruc ture Canada-Alberta Program (ICAP).

Calgary is eligible to participate in programs up to $123 million. Con struction of the Rundle duct was esti

mated to cost $3.8 million.

Michael Chau, P.Eng., is Project Manager, City of Calgary and Randy Giberson is Plant Engineer, Lafarge Canada, Greater Calgary Area.

Contact e-mail: randy.giberson@ lafarge-na.com.

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Process Products and Instrumentaiion - SOLUTIONS September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 17

FOCUS ON...Stormwater Management

Stormceptor excels in a rare

100-year plus storm

By MaryBeth McKenzie Stormceptor

On July 15th, 2004,

Peterborough, Ontario and the surrounding areas were inundated with approximate ly 200 mm (8 inches) of rainfall in just

a few hours. According to Gerry Rye, the City Engineer for Peterborough, "the July 15 flood was caused by a very large storm, the likes of which occur only once every 300 or more years".

People were forced out of their homes

and

businesses, and

the

stormwater and wastewater systems were overwhelmed. With many Stormceptor*' units operating in the Peterborough area, this major storm event provided Stormceptor Canada Inc. (SCI) an excellent opportunity to evaluate the performance of its units under extreme conditions, including very high flows and floodwaters.

On July 22nd, 2004, Minotaur Guardian Services Ltd. inspected 46 units in the Peterborough area.

Sediment levels in the treatment cham bers measured between 25 and 600

mm (1 to 24 inches), with an average of about 175 mm (7 inches). This com pares to an average sediment level of less than 150 mm (6 inches) in the three to four months leading up to the

A cyclist pedals through tloodwaters In Peterborough, Ontario. Hundreds of residents were affected after torrential rains caused widespread fiooding in mid July of this year.

CP Photo storm. "We knew the sediment levels

prior to the storm because most of the units in the Peterborough area were inspected in early spring 2004. We anticipated a moderate increase in the sediment levels during the interinspection period and the results matched our expectations," said Tim Patriquin, Division Manager for the Stormceptor Croup of Companies.

The Stormceptor System is an oil sediment separator for storm drain sys tems. The key advantage of this tech nology is the patented high flow inter

nal bypass that prevents the re-suspension and scouring of captured pollu tants during subsequent storm events.

Although extensive laboratory and field testing have proven the effective ness of this system, the internal bypass has rarely been evaluated under such extreme field conditions. This analysis provides further field support that demonstrates the abililty of the system to avoid scouring during intense rain events.

Contact: www.stonnceptor.com.

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18 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

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Steel Producers and Associates: Dofasco Inc., Steico Inc., Noranda Inc., Sorevco.

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Infrastructure

Brockville's St.Paul Street

Bridge sees 214 years of service Mil ifi''

By Dave Penny

Bridge refurbishment and relin-

ing over waterways can be a viable alternative that helps municipalities and highway departments extend budgets and mini mize the inconvenience and delays of demolition and new construction. The

City of Brockville has kept the St. Paul Street Bridge at Buell's Creek in serv ice for over 200 years through innova tive engineering.

My involvement with the bridge started in 1978 when it took its present form. The bridge was then servicing the Imperial Oil storage facility, which was purchased by the City that year.

The then City Engineer, Gord Watts had the task of bringing the bridge, a stone arch of eight metre span, up to current economical highway stan dards. He employed consultant, Jake Thomas of Gananoque, to design a solution that would meet the City's budget.

The answer was to slip line a struc tural plate corrugated steel arch inside the original bridge, grout the space between the old and new arches and form concrete headwalls over the

existing stone. The work was complet ed in a matter of days by Welter Construction of Kingston without even drawing the attention of the local press or disturbing what is today recognized as a site of industrial archeological sig nificance.

I returned this year as part of a Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute project to review the long performance of cor rugated steel structures. What I found was a structure in excellent condition

with many more years of service left.

More significantly, I found, where the oil depot had been, a beautiful park, with mature trees, historical stone buildings and millworks. Historical signage told the story of the site that

The Shepherd Grist Mill and stone lined raceway viewed from under the arch.

was settled in 1784 by United Empire Loyalists. The signs included an aerial rendering of the town, dated 1873 that showed the bridge in its original glory.

With help from the Brockville Museum, the City of Brockville Engineering Department and local his torian Doug Grant, I was able to piece together the history of the bridge. It would appear that the original bridge was built just west of today's structure, to service Daniel Jones Sawmill (circa 1790) and the Back Pond Gristmill, built at the bridge a few years later.

Very little is recorded except that Nehamiah Seaman, whose stone house is still standing nearby, fell to his death from the bridge during an ice storm in March 1830. A Town map, drawn in March of 1833, suggests that the bridge may have suffered a similar fate as Nehamiah, as it slipped under the icy waters of Buell's Creek. In an effort to gain more power for the expanding mills, the creek, now a millpond, was much deeper and wider than the origi nal bridge could manage.

In 1836, Robert Shepherd, a stone mason by trade, bought and operated the mills. In 1852 with the help of his brothers and father, who were also masons, he built the Shepherd Mill. As masons, they would be familiar with stone arch construction and it is pre sumed that they rebuilt the St. Paul Street Bridge and built the Kingston Road Bridge (circa 1840) as both crossed their millpond. The bridges are earthen causeways with a central stone arch. They are clearly visible in an 1873 aerial rendering.

20 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

By1884, the mills fell into disuse and the CPR railway bought the land as a coal transfer, storage facility and spur line. The millpond was drained to make way for the rails. Black Brothers of Brockville were contracted to build

an iron bridge to carry St. Paul Street up and over the tracks. According to Brockville Public Works archives,

"Their purpose was putting up as fine a bridge as they can as an advertise ment for this new branch of their busi

ness." The Town Architect and design er, O.E.Liston, indicated that the con

tract price of $1,800 was very cheap.

Further good news was that while the new bridge was being built, in piggy back fashion above the Buell's Creek

Arch, traffic flow could be maintained.

Draining the millpond had exposed the piers for the old bridge where Nehamiah Seaman had drowned 54

years earlier, making an economical temporary detour bridge possible.

As coal changed to oil, and railways gave way to trucks and shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway, ownership and land use changed at the Brockville docks. The St. Paul Street Bridge was there to see it all. Its last renovation

took place in 1983 when the 99 year old wrought iron railway bridge was demolished, leaving only a beautiful park and the 164 year old arch over Buell's Creek,that I had the pleasure to help preserve with corrugated steel pipe 26 years ago.

David J. Penny, EES, is with the Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute.

Contact e-mail: djpenny@cspi.ca.

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Health News

Potential health risk identified from

vermiculite insulation containing asbestos

Health Canada has issued an

advisory about potential health risks posed by some vermiculite insulation that

may contain asbestos. This product can present health risks if disturbed during

maintenance, renovation or demoli

to the interior environment.

tion. However, there is currently no

The best way to minimize any risk of asbestos exposure is to avoid dis turbing vermiculite-based insulation in any way. If vermiculite-based insula tion is contained and not exposed to the home or interior environment, it poses very little risk to health. Persons with health concerns due to possible exposure to asbestos should talk to their doctor or primary health care provider.

Vermiculite ore produced from the Libby Mine in Montana, US, from the 1920s to 1990, may contain asbestos.

This mine supplied the majority of the world market in vermiculite insulation, mostly sold under the brand name

evidence of a risk to health if the insu lation remains sealed behind wall-

boards and floorboards, isolated in an

attic, or otherwise kept from exposure

Tri-PhaseEnvironmentallnc.

Tri-Phase Environmental

Inc.(TPEI) Is a Canadian waste management and environmental remediation

company. TPEI operates

across Canada offering a full line of on-site services

Zonolite. Insulation material made

to private, public, and crown

corporations. TPEI has built a national reputation of quaiity, service and safe,

from vermiculite ore produced by the Libby Mine was not widely used after the mid-1980s and has not been sold on the market in Canada for more than

cost effective solutions.

10 years.

Not all vermiculite insulation pro

TPEI is committed to

duced before 1990 contains asbestos.

environmentai quality,

However, it is prudent, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to assume

coupled with safety and compliance.

that vermiculite insulation material

produced before 1990 may contain some asbestos.

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• Asbestos and mold removal

• Demolition and

decommissioning

RGB cleanup, and disposal

Asbestos poses health risks only when fibres are present in the air that people breathe. When inhaled, asbestos fibres can cause asbestosis (a scarring of the lungs which makes breathing difficult), mesothelioma (a rare cancer of the lining of the chest or abdominal cavity) and lung cancer.

Asbestos related illnesses are usually associated with frequent and pro longed exposure to asbestos rather than occasional exposure.

The time it takes to develop a dis ease from exposure to asbestos is usu ally very long - up to decades.

Based on current information, there is no evidence that vermiculite cur

• Site cleanup and remediation

rently available for horticultural pur poses (eg. potting plants) is a health risk when used as directed.

• Underground storage tank removal

For more information visit Health Canada's website at wv,iv.Khc-sc.gc.ca, or call 1-800-443-0395.

22 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Hazardous Wastes

Imports of hazardous wastes continue to decline hazardous waste needs to travel for

instance, can significantly reduce cost to industry.

Since 1992, the Government of Canada has had strict regulations on the transboundary movement and tracking of hazardous wastes and haz ardous recyclable materials. In addi

tion, recently proposed revisions to the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste Regulations, published for consulta tion in March 2004, will further con tribute to the protection of the environ ment and human health and will mod

ernize a control regime established over a decade ago. â&#x2013;

Recent figures released by Environment

Canada

show

that in 2003, for the fourth year in a row, there has been a decline in the amount of hazardous

wastes and hazardous recyclable mate rials imported into Canada. Hazardous waste exports also declined between 2002 and 2003.

The figures for 2003 indicate that imports of hazardous materials decreased by almost 6000 tonnes since the previous year. Exports decreased

by nearly 6 percent, representing near ly 20,000 tonnes. Most notable is the decline in the imports of hazardous waste destined for landfilling which

dropped to 43,274 tonnes. This repre sents a reduction of 34 percent from 2002 levels (65,500 tonnes) and is down by a total of 82 percent from 1999, when they peaked at 235,000 tonnes.

The reductions in exports are due in part to a 14 percent decrease of haz

IS SEWER FLOW

ardous waste materials destined for

disposal to the United States and other Organization of Economic Co-opera tion and Development (OECD) coun tries. The reduction in imports indi cates that provincial regulations in Quebec for the pre-treatment of con taminated soil have had a positive effect in helping to reduce overall imports of hazardous wastes destined for landfilling. Another contributing factor to the

downward trend

in

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V. September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 23

Olympian Challenge

Athens treatment facilities

provided offshore engineering challenges

By Alexander Farnsworth

The Athens Olympiad has been

hailed as one of the most spec tacular in the history of the Olympics with the stadium providing an elegant site for the athlet ic performances. While the world was enthralled by both the opening and closing ceremonies, a major engineer ing event - a wastewater treatment plant - played a vital but unheralded role in the Games.

The plant is situated on the island of Psyttalia, 2.2 kilometres south of the Athens suburb of Keratsini, in the Saronic Gulf.

share ofAthens' wastewater, or about 1

dance with the European Union (EU)

million cubic metres of wastewater per day, about 12 cubic metres per second.

Most of the waste is gravity fed to a huge pump station on the shore from where nine gigantic Archimedes' screw pumps pump the waste to the island. As the Olympics returned to their origins, it was appropriate that modern pumps were installed in the land where the concept was dreamed up by Archimedes.

Before 1994, when the first phase of the Psyttalia plant was commis sioned, most of Athens' sewage and

Urban Wastewater Treatment Direet-

"The island location was chosen

industrial effluent was released out to

because Athens, a city of almost 4 mil lion people, is so densely populated that there was simply no room on the mainland," says Dimitris Adraktas, project manager at Psyttalia B Consultants, a joint venture between a

sea without any treatment.

After 1994, the plant provided pri mary treatment including screening, grit removal, primary sedimentation, anaerobic digestion, and mechanical dewatering for the sludge. The effluent was then discharged 2,000 metres out to sea at a depth of 64 metres.

The substantial upgrade was neces sary in order to comply with stricter effluent limits for nitrogen in accor

German and three Greek consultants.

Adraktas is managing the plant's upgrade on behalf of the Greek Ministry of Public Works.

The Psyttalia plant treats the lion's

Olympic upgrade

ive. Prior to the EU-sponsored upgrade, which cost 200 million euros, the Saronic Gulf off the coast of

Athens was designated as "sensitive" by the EU. "Upgrading the Psyttalia wastewater treatment plant was used as an argument by Greece in its Olympic bid," says John Margiolos, city project manager responsible for the final design and erection of the upgrade.

"While officially we were not an Olympic project (the upgrade was planned before our Olympic bid), it was clear that we had to be ready for the Olympics," he says.

So the upgrade ineluded biological treatment of the waste to remove car

bon, nitrogen and some phosphorus, the organic compounds that make wastewater detrimental to the environ ment. But this was easier said than done.

Psyttalia is a 57-hectare island made up primarily of limestone and

ITT Flygt played a vital role In upgrading the Psyttalia wastewater treatment plant In Athens to accommodate the Olympic Games.

The Psyttalia installation of Flygt pumps and mixers was the biggest order ever tor ITT Flygt Flellas, the Greek subsidiary.

A large number of pumps are used to transport the wastewater to the island and throughout the different treatment processes. Seven submersible PL 7101 Flygt propeller pumps are used to pump the wastewater Into the bioreactors.

Throughout the bioreactor tanks 36PP 4670 and 13 PL 7081 pumps are used for recirculatlon.

Forty-eight SR 4410 Banana mixers are used to mix the bioreactor zones. An additional 24 SR 4650 mixers are used for degassing at the bioreactor outlet.

24 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Olympic Challenge clay. In ancient Greek, psytt-allos means literally "spit out from the sea."

As a proof of this, during extensive

room for the island's biological treat ment. This involved building large 9.4metre-high bioreactor/aeration tanks

ing less of an option because of increased pressure from the EU waste-

civil works on the island to make room

on the island.

for the biological treatment of Athens' wastewater, many marine fossils were

When the upgraded Psyttalia wastewater treatment plant is fully opera tional 800 tonnes of dewatered sludge a day (with 28 percent dryness) will be produced. This must then be shipped back to the mainland for disposal.

But depositing the sludge in land fill, as was done in the past, is becom

"As far as final disposal options, the most promising solution is to thermal ly dry the sludge to 90 percent dryness and to use the dry granules as a fuel in the cement industry," says Adraktas.

"This is our best option. The Greek government has applied for an addi tional 40 million euros in EU funding for a sludge-drying plant." ■

found in the limestone.

The island was also involved in vicious sea battles in the Greek and Persian War in 480 BC. The Persians

were defeated, and the empire was pre vented from expanding westwards.

In the mid 20th century, Psyttalia was Athens' Alcatraz, a prison island for the Greek Navy. As a result, Psyttalia has some historical signifi cance, most of which is preserved. A small archeological site remains untouched, as well as some graves.

The rest of the island, however, has been totally re-engineered since 1990 to accommodate sewage from the bustling metropolis of Athens.

First of all, a small bay on the north

water and waste directives.

side of the island was filled in with 2 million cubic metres of excavated material. A total of 4 million cubic metres of earth was exeavated to make

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meai.lj w i-fimm MIXED LIQUOR ANALYZER

Proco's PEN-SEAL is a low-cost

mechanical seal between any pipes passing through Walls, Floors, Tanks, Pipeline Casings, and Vaults.

The PEN-SEAL is available in EPDM or Nitrile material with car

j

bon steel or 316L hardware. All sizes have been tested to withstand a

hydrostatic seal up to 20 psig or 40 feet of head pressure in addition to withstanding temperatures up to 250°F

Call your local representative:

For more information and litera

ture/sample specifications, contact us by phone: 800-344-3246, E-mail: leads@procoproducts.com, or on the web: www.procoproducts.com.

Cancoppas Limited technologies

www.aysix.com info(5)aysix.com

1-800-595-0514

ON. MB. SK. AB

(604) 466-9807 BC DCH Process Dynamics (613) 226-4413 Eastern Ontario IMC Coppas Qu6bec Lt^e. (450) 424-1370 QC

Cascadia Instnimentation Inc

QIP Marltimes

506 635-1931

NB. NS. PEI. NF

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 25

ifiSi

lif

'sk:'

' re iftuiiP'Wis'

ar ■.">-ir^aijr^ - -

iaii_ ■■

-■

Nova Scotia is the recycling leader of Canada. Less

By Hans Tammemagi

known, however, is that it also has a wastewater treatment facility that is one of the first in North America. It is situated in the picturesque town of Bear River, nestled in a steep valley on a tidal river near the west coast of the province. The town, which has gained the nick name of "Little Switzerland" and is home to a

thriving artisan community, is well worth a visit even with out the treatment facility.

From the outside, the Bear River Solar Aquatics Wastewater Treatment Facility looks like a greenhouse.

But inside, instead of flowers, there are tanks, pipes, and a pond. It was designed and built

by EDM-Environmental Design & Management Limited in 1995.

The process begins in the blending tank with bioaugmentation, where bacteria are added

by way of recycling of the sec ondary solids from the clarifier.

The water is aerated to break up the solid material and convert it

to prime material for the subse quent ecosystems to feed on.

Sludge is not produced as in conven tional treatment systems.

The 12 solar tanks (1.5 metres high by 1.8 metres diameter) contain mini ecosystems and water is gravity fed from one to the next. Inside each tank are specially selected algae, zooplankton, phytoplankton, snails, fish and plants that feed on the organic compounds in the water. As the wastewater progresses from one tank to the next, more and more of the organic compounds are removed.

After the last tank, the wastewater flows into a 9.4

metres by 5.9 metres solar pond which is 2.9 metres deep.

The pond is divided into three sections with each contain ing the same ecosystems as the tanks, only on a larger scale. The water is aerated to help accelerate the consump tion of organic material. The effluent is then pumped into 26 Environmental Science & Engineering, September 2004

a gravity clarifier/marsh where various marsh grasses pro vide denitrification, nutrient uptake, phosphorous removal, and final polishing and clarification.

Although it has not yet been necessary, the water could also be passed through a swirl separator and a rotarydrum filter where any remaining solids are removed and sent to underground stabilizing tanks for aerobic digestion and then applied to a reed bed for eomposting.

Finally, the effluent is UV disinfected and gravity fed into the Bear River. Monitoring has shown that the final water meets provincial environmental standards.

The solar aquatic system is cost-effective as it provides secondary and tertiary treatment at the same cost as traditional methods

providing only primary treatment. In addition, the odourless and aesthet ically pleasing appearance allows the system to be located close to the sewage sources, thus reduc ing collection system and pumping costs. No complaints have been received, although the facility is located near the down town tourist district.

A strength of the system is the high degree of diversity in the ecosys tems. Because of this, they are not as vul nerable to toxins as systems that rely on only a few specialized microorganisms. Furthermore, they are selfregenerating and effectively run themselves, with little operator intervention required.

The facility, which currently processes 68 cubic metres (15,000 imperial gallons) of wastewater per day, was designed so it can be easily expanded. It can also be read ily modified to clean the wastewater to a higher quality. A facility with four-times larger capacity has recently been constructed in Beaverbank, Nova Scotia.

Contact EDM-Environmental Design & Management Limited, e-mail: info@edm.ca.

ELEVATING WASTEWATER SCREENING PERFORMANCE TO NEW HEIGHTS.

li II if ir IT ii IF

John Meunier

Inc.

Why is the Escalator® Screen THE most efficient screen on the market?

• Higher capture rate with either 1/8" or 1/4" perforations • Lower headloss because of higher open area • Larger materials are lifted with step-shaped panels • Better cleaning with spray wash and high-speed brush • Easier retrofitting because of low headroom requirements For details on how you can benefit from the Escalator® Screen — either in a new installation or as a retrofit —

The Escalator'^ screen is proving itselfin hundreds ofoperating installations.

call: (905) 868-9683, e-mail: ontario@johnmeunier.com

or go to: www.johnmeunier.com.

John Meunier inc. ho Pony Drive, unit 2, Newmarket, ONTARIO,L3Y 7B6 Tel:(905) 868-9683 Fax:(905) 868-9870

Infrastructure Expansion

Peel Region begins major expansion of infrastructure facilities

Construction on one ofCanada's

ambitious business management initia

largest expansion of water and

tive," Schiller said. The South-Peel

wastewater infrastructure is

construction projects will significantly increase the capacity of the three plants to handle the Region's water and

now underway. Directed by Mark Schiller, Director of Water and

facilities significantly reduce odour.

South Peel construction project engineering partners include Earth Tech, CH2M HILL, KMK and Black and Veatch.

Newly implemented technologies

Wastewater Treatment for the Ontario

wastewater services:

Region of Peel, the expansion projects total over $600 million in capital expenditures and will support growth and development in Peel Region for

• The

the future.

lion litres. The construction cost is

Alfa Laval

In 1999, the Region identified the need to expand the Lakeview Wastewater Treatment Facility, Lakeview Water Treatment Facility

approximately $260 million.

• Membrane filtration systems - Zenon The Ontario Clean Water Agency operates the Region's water and wastewater treatment plants. The bulk of the expansion work will be completed by 2006, with additional upgrades being made up until 2008. The treatment processes involved with these new facilities will significantly reduce

and

the

Clarkson

Wastewater

Treatment Facility by 2006, to service growth in the Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon areas.

"We are upgrading the facilities with

some

of the

world's

most

advanced treatment technologies," says Schiller. "These new technologies will generate positive benefits for local residents, such as higher water treat ment capacity, odour reduction and improved benefits to Lake Ontario."

"Constructing three multi-million dollar facilities, at the same time, while maintaining service levels, is an

Lakeview

Wastewater

Treatment Facility will expand to treat 448 million litres of wastewater a day from its current capacity of 392 mil

• The Clarkson Wastewater Treatment

Facility will increase its capacity to 200 million litres per day from 163 million litres, with an anticipated con struction cost of about $110 million.

• The

Lakeview

Water Treatment

Facility will expand daily treatment capacity to 820 million litres from 560 million litres. There is approximately $135 million budgeted for this project.

When completed in 2006, the Lakeview Water Treatment Plant will

have the world's largest membrane fil tration operations.

For all three facilities, the bulk of

will be:

• Perforated plate screens - John Meunier Inc.

• Centrifuges and sludge disposal -

odour and increase water treatment

capacity. When constructed, these facilities will have some of the world's

most advanced treatment processes, securing the on-going delivery of qual ity and environmentally sound water and wastewater services.

the expansion work will be completed

by 2006. The treatment processes

Contact: Mark Schiller, (905) 791-

involved with these new wastewater

7800.

MULTI-STAGE FILTER PACKAGE TREATMENT PLANT for SMALL SYSTEMS Enhanced Multi-Stage Filtration Package Riant.

High quality treated water without coagulant aide, or pH chemicals.

Treats a wide range of raw water quality.

Greater than 4 log removal of Giardia and Cryptosporidium.

Simple cleaning technique.

Operating costs are very low.

Meets government guidelines for filtration of surface waters.

Phone (905) 853-0164 i 7665 Leslie Street, Suite 47

Fax; (905) 853-8807 email; info@msfiiter.com

Newmarket,ON. L3Y 3E3

web: www.msfiiter.com

Toil Free: 1-866-853-0164

Silvply a Better Solution 28 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

ReIaX wilh CONCRETE pipE. Bringing your work home with you? Does the budget on your latest sanitary or storm drain project hove you worried about getting the best return on investment?

Why not specify precast concrete pipe and rest assured. When you factor in proper installation, maintenance and replacement costs with pipe material costs over the life of the project, precast concrete pipe is the best value. Simply specify precast concrete pipe, knowing you've mode the confident choice, and relax.

Ontario

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Q

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Association

Environmental NEWS

Report on pesticide regulation released

Areport, entitled Recommend

ations for the Regulation of

Pesticides in Prince Edward

Island, was recently complet ed by the Environmental Advisory Council.

During the consultation process, the council met with groups with an inter

est in the issues of pesticide use and regulation including product vendors, licensed applicators, representatives of the agriculture, fisheries and tourism industries, municipalities, and environ ment and public health groups. The committee also held four public meet ings and received written submissions.

I

The report includes 44 recommen dations in the areas of pesticide sales, purchase and application; vendor and applicator training; posting and notifi cation of pesticide applications; record keeping; display, transportation, stor age and disposal of pesticides; enforcement of regulations; and reduc tion of pesticide use.

Among the key recommendations: • Pesticides classified as Domestic by Health Canada be separated into two categories, based on their potential risk to human health and the natural envi ronment.

in consideration of your personif

• A business selling higher risk (Category 2) Domestic pesticides be licensed, and the products sold through a dispensary system (behind the count er) by trained and certified staff.

• Training and certification be required to purchase and apply higher risk Domestic pesticides.

• Agricultural pesticide applicators provide an annual pesticide application schedule to property owners within 25 metres of the land being treated.

• Advance notification of pesticide application be provided to properties within 25 metres and signs be posted for ail non-agricuiturai applications of a non-domestic or higher risk

safety(not to mention Homeland

• Fines for violations of the Pesticides

NOTRESMSSMt

PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY f We are in the process of switciif from hazardous liquid/gaseous water treatment products to the Accu-Tab chlorination system. This Is being done

w -—-31

Domestic pesticide.

Security requirements). The frf

Control Act or regulations be increased to a minimum $1,000 and maximum $50,000 for individuals, and minimum $5,000 and maximum $250,000 for a corporation.

be a safer and more reliable ^ drinkins water. Uiiiiitlwk«P"''

• A Task Force be established to fur ther research measures that could be

With the Accu-Tab chlorination systenn, there are no bulky drums or cylinders to handle.

And the patented Accu-Tab chlorinators and

cal hypo tablets deliver consistent and controllable chlorine dosages, day after day. That's why when it comes to making safe water safer, the easy choice is the Accu-Tab system. We've got the power.'"

implemented to reduce risks of pesti cide contamination including pesti cide-free buffer zones; and that, in the interim: the maximum aiiowabie wind

speed for the application of a pesticide using ground application equipment be reduced from 25 kilometres per hour to 20 kilometres per hour; and a Pesticide

Use Permit be required to apply a pes ticide in identified "protected zones" around watercourses, public areas and private residences.

ecu-Tab Quality tablets manufactured by PPC Industries 800.245.2974 • www.ppgaccu-tab.com

A PPG Industries Brand

The report recommendations for the Regulation of Pesticides in Prince Edward Island is available online at

www.gov.pe.ca/go/pesticides.

30 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

ACO Container Systems www.acotainers.com

ACO Container Systems AGO Container Systems is a ieading North American manufacturer of quaiity rotationaliy mouided products.

SECONDARY CONTAINMENT BASINS

Ali ACO tanks are avaiiabie in a wide

range of sizes. ACO Container Systems can also custom-design and manufacture a tank system engineered to meet your specific needs.

Visit us on the web at: www.acotainers.com

AGO Container Systems Ltd., 794 McKay Road, Pickering, Ontario, L1W2Y4

Browse our comprehensive on-line product catalogue, and download a PDF copy ■ Telephone:(905) 683-8222

for easy reference.

■ Toll Free: 1-800-542-9942

Access product drawings in PDF-format, or get the complete ACO Container Systems PDF library compressed in a single ZIP file.

■ Toil Free Fax: 1-800-542-4722

Contact our Sales Specialists by telephone, or by e-mail at:

■ Fax: (905) 683-2969

custserv@acotainers.com

Drinking Water Small communities turn to membrane technology

to meet potable water and wastewater discharge standards

How small communities Above: The MBR system conversion at Point Pleasant Resort, St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, was carried out in the existing tanks, eliminating the need for expensive sludge handling during construction.

Right: Using SWRO technology, a desalination facility was constructed that turned the Curtain Bluff, Antigua, feedwater sources into clean potable water, allowing the resort to exceed World Health Organization guidelines for drinking water quality.

Today,virtual y every geograph

ic or institutional entity faces challenges in providing clean, fresh water for its commercial, human, and agricultural needs. How ironic is it that in many cases, the smaller the entity, the bigger the chal lenges?

In fact, most small communities, such as vacation resorts, colleges, and small towns, encounter unique obsta cles in fulfilling their water require ments that larger entities often need not worry about.

With drinking water there is the obvious problem of availability. With less than 1% of the world's freshwater

resources accessible for human use,

there is already a relatively limited supply base. What's more, residents of large cities often get their drinking water from surface water sources, such as lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

Residents of rural areas are more like

ly to drink ground water which has been pumped from a well. These wells can become depleted, offering a dan gerously low yield.

A significant issue in generating fresh drinking water is salination, a problem indigenous to most seaside resort communities. The intrusion of

salt water into the wells that provide

By Merrilee Galloway,Ionics,Inc. drinking water is not uncommon and can render these wells virtually unusable.

Wastewater issues, another area of concern for small communities, can be particularly sensitive when there are geographical limitations. For example, existing septic systems can become

supplies are also a byproduct of incon sistent municipal supplies. In addition,

insufficient as small communities

is threatened, its tourist business is

experience growth. Many laws require

negatively affected, as is the entire economy of the island on which it resides. These water-quality issues may also translate into an inability of these small communities to comply with local government regulations, fur ther jeopardizing the resort's, and the island's, economic situation.

Some entities, like private schools, face unique wastewater-disposal issues that go beyond the scope of simple water quality and deal more closely with geographical limitations. The old est private independent day and board ing school in the United States was charged with increasing the capacity of

that a sufficient area be set aside for

replacement systems if subsurface dis charge is used for wastewater disposal.

Even if an adequate replacement area is available, additional construction can translate into serious economic ramifications.

An overriding problem is that deci sion makers in small communities often lack the information and resources related to wastewater infra

structure, while the communities themselves, especially in this stagnant economy, do not possess the financial resources that larger communities do.

In fact, for small towns, choosing between a new school and a new

wastewater treatment plant is not an uncommon dilemma.

Bad water is bad business for small communities

Throughout the Caribbean, which nurtures a cornucopia of attractive sea side resorts, inadequate drinking water

32 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

natural occurrences such as droughts

and hurricanes can play havoc with well-water supplies, leaving them depleted, contaminated, or both. When a major resort's drinking water supply

its conventional wastewater treatment

system, without increasing the physi cal size of the plant. Similarly, Point Pleasant Resort, a stunning suite resort in St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, was forced to increase the capacity of its undersized wastewater treatment facil

ity but, like the private school, needed to accomplish its goal without addi-

Drinking Water tional space requirements or a major investment in new equipment.

The good news is that small towns, resorts, and institutions are using the

membrane to biologically treat and fil ter wastewater in a single step.

Ionics has 53 years of experience in the design, installation, operation and

latest advancements in water treatment

maintenance of membrane, conven tional, and thermal-based water treat

resort hotels in the Caribbean located

ment systems. Applications range from supplying drinking water to communi ties from surface, brackish and seawa ter sources, to reclaiming and recy cling process water and wastewater.

There are a myriad of examples

on the island of Antigua, was saddled with inadequate water supplies due to inconsistent municipal supplies, wellwater contamination caused by seawa ter intrusion, drought and natural continued overleaf...

technology to solve these water prob lems. In particular, membrane systems have, in the last 20 years, become widely accepted components in the treatment of brackish water, seawater and surface water sources. These membrane-based water treatment tech

which illustrate how small communi ties met their needs for multi-use water resources.

Resorts

Curtain Bluff, one of the premier

nologies have exhibited improved per formance, as well as a reduction in operating and maintenance costs.

There are a number of membrane-

based treatment options available, depending upon the sourcewater and treatment objectives, including ultrafiltration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), electrodialysis reversal (EDR) and membrane bioreactors(MBR).

Ultrafiltration uses hollow-fibre to remove water-borne bacteria and para sites such as giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts, as well as

LexisNexis®

Environmental

99.99% of viruses.

Reverse Osmosis is a membrane

process in which solutions are desalted or concentrated using relatively high hydraulic pressure as the driving force.

In the RO process the salt ions and other contaminants are excluded or

rejected by the RO membrane while pure water is forced through the mem brane under pressure. RO technology is ideally suited for seawater desalina tion, in ultrapure water systems, and in point-of-use residential systems.

Nanofiltration is a similar process to RO,but with a slightly more "open" membrane that preferentially rejects organics and divalent ions such as cal cium.

Electrodialysis Reversal is a process in which solutions are desalted or concentrated electrically. Salts in water dissociate into positively and negatively charged ions. The key to the EDR process is a semi-permeable bar rier that allows passage of either posi tively charged ions (cations) or nega tively charged ions (anions), while excluding passage ofions of the oppo site charge. These semi-permeable bar riers are commonly known as ionexchange, ion-selective or electrodial ysis membranes.

Membrane Bioreactors combine

biological treatment of domestic wastewater

with

a

Now there is a tool you can turn to for more efficient and targeted searches on a wide range of today's key environmental issues from a diverse collection of environmental-related literature.

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For more information about LexisNexis Environmental,

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microfiltration

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 33

Drinking Water Blower

Virgin Islands. The resort, which

Suction Pump

Š-<xH=)

Product Water

Constant-flow Valve

Untreated Water

reuses all of its wastewater for irriga

tion, landscaping and toilet flushing, found that its wastewater treatment

facility was undersized to deal with its wastewater reuse requirements. Ionics was able to retrofit the client's existing waste treatment equipment to provide better quality water for reuse and allow for greater capacity. The MBR system

Screei

conversion was carried out in the exist

ing tanks, eliminating the need for expensive sludge handling during con struction. The waste treatment capaci ty was more than doubled without requiring additional space or expen sive tanks.

Anoxic Zone

Membrane Bioreactor {Aeration Tank)

Sludgeholding Tank

is a National Historic site and a

A custom-designed MBR system.

events such as hurricanes. Using Salt Water Reverse Osmosis(SWRO)tech nology, Ionics constructed a desalina tion facility that turned the resort's feedwater sources(seawater wells)into clean potable water, changing the feedwater quality of 38,000 ppm Total

Small towns

The City of Cape May, New Jersey,

Dissolved Solids (TDS) to 240 - 300 ppm TDS. This exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) guide lines for drinking water quality.

Point Pleasant Resort is a beautiful

and environmentally conscious villastyle suite resort in St Thomas, U.S.

favorite vacation spot for beach combers. Unfortunately, salt water intrusion threatened to compromise its water supply. The City had already abandoned three of its supply wells due to high salinity. An Ionics brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) sys tem was the most economical method

of supplementing the City's present

i

CH2M HILL brings a world of resources - 14,000 professionals on six continents - to help clients effectively balance the environmental, social and economic concerns of community development and infrastructure projects worldwide. We provide integrated engineering and construction management services in the areas of water, energy, environment, transportation, communications and industrial facilities.

CH2IVIHILL Responsible Solutions for a Sustainabie Future*

www.ch2mhilkanada.com C082003002TOR

34 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

fresh water supply. A one million gal lon per day (mgd) system was deliv ered to the City in May 1998, with a 1 mgd expansion in June. The 2 mgd system was the first major use of membrane desalting by a municipality

AQUASTORE TANKS BECAUSE

Builder of the Year Award

in the Northeast.

Melville is a small community of

about 5,000 people in southeastern Saskatchewan. The community needed a long-term solution to seasonal and annual drought conditions in their sur face water supply. They turned to a 500,000 gpd Ionics EDR system for treating an additional water supply source, a highly mineralized ground water from a deep aquifer. Today, 13 years after first installing their EDR water treatment plant, this Canadian community continues to benefit from the practical and economic solution to

nOUflSlTORt* Tat^& Domes

Greatario Engineered Storage Systems Tel:(519)469-8169 Fax:(519)469-8157 www.greatario.com sales@greatarloengsys.com

their demineralization needs.

Merrilee Galloway is the Ultrafiltmtion Product Manager at Ionics, Inc. Contact e-mail:

mgalloway@ionics.com

12 VOLT SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS

Optional on/ofr switch

(currently available only In Canada)

Waterra introduces four new 12 Volt Submersible

Pumps designed specifically for well purging and sampling procedures.

• excellent lift performance: from 25 to 70 feet (depending upon which pump is used) • greatly speeds up the process of purging and sampling monitoring wells • 4 models available: single stage WSP-IIV-I, double stage WSP-I2V-2, three stage WSP-I2V-3 and four stage WSP-I2V-4 • high performance/long life DC electrical motor • adapts to 1/2 x 3/8" low density poly tubing • suitable for continuous running

Groundwater Monitoring Equipment & Supplies 'Waterra Pumps Limited 5200 Dixie Road, Unit 44, Hississauga, ON, Canada L4W IE4 • email: waterra@idirectcom • tel; 905.238.5242 • fax: 905.238.5704' Waterra USA Inc.

715 West Orchard Drive, Suite 5, Bellingham, WA, USA 98225 • email: waterra@openaccess.org • tel: 360.738.3366 • fax: 360.738.3399

* www.waterra.com • bailers • water level sensors September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 35

Drinking Water

Buffalo Pound to Regina pipeline increases City of Regina's drinking water supply

By Gord Joorisity

The Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant provides

safe, high quality drinking water to the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw, as well as several small communities and rural customers along the pipeline route. In the 1980s, the City of Regina decided to twin its 56 kilometre pipeline from the treatment plant to its customers in the City to provide additional water sup ply capacity.

The City commissioned Associated Engineering to complete the pre-design study for twinning the 900 mil limetre diameter pipeline. Their report recommended twinning with a 1,050 millimetre diameter steel pipe par allel to the existing pipeline. The company subsequently completed design and provided construction engineering services for Phases One and Two of the three-phase pipeline twinning project.

In 2001, the City, once again, retained the Associated Engineering team for Phase Three of the pipeline expan sion. This final phase involves construction of 20 kilome tres of 1,050 millimetre diameter steel pipeline and modi fications to the high lift pumping facilities located at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant.

ARSENIC REMOVAL Are you aware that Health Canada is proposing a new arsenic guideline for drinking water soon?

Are you in need of an effective and economical way to remove arsenic?

MEDIA G2® adsorption is the answer!

Developed especially for municipal water treatment applications, MEDIA G2® systems will reduce arsenic to less than 5 ppb. It is the most cost effective process on the market and has been successfully used for over 5 years. MEDIA G2® is certified to NSF 61 and its performance has been verified

by ETV Canada. It is supported by leading experts in the field.

Contact ADI International for help in project planning and firm price proposals.

800-858-1888 or 506-451-7407

elw@adi.ca

www.adi.ca

36 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

fTPfi is

Installation of 1,050 mm diameter steel pipeline.

As the prime consultant. Associated Engineering is providing comprehensive services for pre-design, detailed design, bid period, general engineering, resident engineering, post-construction, and project management services. Led by Gord Joorisity, Senior Project Manager in their Regina office, design is being coordinated with technical specialists located in Associated Engineering offices across Western Canada, as well as with a number of specialist subconsultants.

To gain full advantage of capital cost savings and improve control of the project schedule, the City elected to proceed with a number of separate supply and installa tion schedules. The project team has managed all of these contracts for the City.

The work has required coordination with landowners to ensure their full support for this project. Affected landowners were notified of the upcoming construction well in advance, and careful consideration was given to all impacts that this work would have on the existing property, traffic operations, and future land use in and around the 33 metre wide working easement.

Approvals were obtained to construct the pipeline from various provincial and federal regulatory agencies, including Saskatchewan Environment, Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, SaskEnergy, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Once the Buffalo Pound to Regina Pipeline Expansion and pump improvements are completed, the City of Regina will benefit from increased potable water supply capacity, improved water system security, and lower oper ating costs due to reduced high lift pumping require ments.

Gord Joorisity, P.Eng. is Project Manager at Associated Engineerings Regina ojjice. Contact e-mail: joorisityg@ae.ca.

Âť

p

Pure - the way water should always taste.

Trojan is giving municipalities a new option to keep their drinking water safe, pure, odor free and tasting good - no matter what the season.

Trojan offers unique treatment solutions to eliminate the harmful microbial and chemical contaminants in drinking water. At the same time, taste

and odor causing compounds can be treated with Trojan's UV solutions.

It's all done in a way that helps ensure your treatment facilities comply with ever-increasing regulatory pressures.

For an effective, reliable and environmentally-responsible treatment solution, the world is turning to Trojan. www.trojanuv.com

TROJAN UV WATER CONFIDENCE"

Environmental Analyses

Reg 153...movmg to clarity and standardization?

By Dr.Andrew Masters and Dr.Terry Obal

Gasoline

The much-talked about and

JP-4/Jet B to

anticipated Brownfields Regu lation (153/04) is now pro gressing along the road to cer tainty. With the closing of the com ment period, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment(MOB)is proceeding to issue the final regulation that will come into effect October 1, 2004.

Changes in the new regulation will

accountabilities;

• Contaminant standards by land type; • Specific laboratory methods and procedures; and • Associated reporting requirements.

The compliance date for the analyt ical components of this regulation is October 1, 2004. The regulation states that the "date of last sampling" is sig nificant. If the date of last sampling is pre October 1, 2004, then the require ments listed in the previous Guidelines for Use at Contaminated Sites in

Breakdown

Jet A

i ^ Kerosene o c o N

^ JP-5,7,8

0) c (1)

Diesel

N

C 0)

m

O

Lubricating Oils

I- ai

Waxes and bottoms

^ (Heavy fuels, asphalts, etc.) ^

affect both environmental labora tories and environmental consultants

operating across Ontario.

The new regulation supports harmonisation of standards governing site/risk assessments, analytical re quirements, definitions of "Qualified Persons", and protocols critical to their involvement by providing clear rules regarding: • Qualified Persons (QPs) and

Hydrocarbon

C6

08

C10 _L

016

EPH (extractables) Extraction - GO/FID

F1

F2-F4 TPH Extraction - Gravimetric F4G

The above graph shows hydrocarbon breakdown by carbon number.

ultimately accountable for them.

From the perspective of contracting analytical laboratory services, it is the responsibility of the Qualified Person to: • Ensure that an accredited laboratory, as specified in the Regulation, carries out the analysis of the sample in accor dance with the prescriptive methodolo gy (including holding times).

• Obtain from the laboratory written confirmation that the laboratory con ducted the analysis for the contaminant in accordance with MOE approved protocols' or other methods for which the laboratory has received written permission from the Director, MOE,

Ontario, 1996 (GUCSO) apply. If, however, the date of last sampling occurs beyond October 1, QPs will have to incorporate the new analytical

• Ensure that all samples collected as part of a Phase II environmental site

standards listed in the document enti

assessment, risk assessment or for the

tled: "Protocol for Analytical Methods Used in the Assessment of Properties under Part XVI of the Environmental

Protection Act" (March 9, 2004) to complete the project.

Qualified Person (QP) The new Brownfield Regulations specify that Phase I and Phase II Site

Assessments, activities supporting Records of Site Condition and Risk Assessments are conducted and/or

supervised by a Qualified Person(QP).

A QP, as described in the Regulation certifies in writing that all components of these activities meet the require ments of Reg.153, and therefore, is

030

PPH (purgeabies) P/T GO/MS

LSB.

purpose of indicating maximum con taminant concentration for a Record of Site Condition are handled in accor

dance with appropriate protocols.

• Review the final interpretation of all analytical data and recommended actions associated with a specific site.

Nature of analytical changes In the spring of 2003, the MOE issued specific analytical methods for most of the parameters listed in Tables ' Ontario Ministry of the Environment."Protocol for Analytical Methods Used in the Assessment of Properties under Part XV.1 of the Environmental Protection Act", March 9, 2004.

38 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

1-6 of the Regulation. The analytical protocols presented were based on methods used by the MOE,Laboratory Services Branch (LSB) at that time.

During the same process, the MOE,

LSB solicited input from all private analytical laboratories on "other meth ods" which would produce equivalent data. Based on this evaluation, the "other methods" which were deemed

acceptable by the MOE were incorpo rated into the existing document and listed as "alternate methods".

Accreditation

All laboratories doing environmen tal work in Ontario, in addition to meeting the prescriptive elements, must

meet

Section

47

of

the

Regulation which specifies that the analysis ofsamples must be carried out by a laboratory which: i) Has met the requirements of the International

Standard

ISO/IEC

17025; and

ii)has been accredited for specific parameters by the Standards Council of Canada.

The Qualified Person is responsible for the selection of a laboratory that meets the prescriptive elements and accreditation requirements of a project(s). The resources required to main tain a comprehensive "Scope of Accreditation" and participate in CAEAL approved performance testing continued overleaf...

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Environmental Analyses (PT), may not be realistic for some lab oratory operations or may require a significant scope extension.

There are many compounds listed in the Regulation for which the MOE did not provide recommended or alter nate methods and/or reporting limits.

It is our understanding that by main taining current SCC/CAEAL accredi tation for each parameter not listed in tables 1 to 6, the accredited analytical procedures are, by default, accepted under Reg. 153.

CCME hydrocarbon analysis For the most part, the analytical methods allowed by the Regulation are fairly typical, and based on standard reference methods.

There are, however, some critical methods, which were not part of the former GUCSO guidance document.

Most notable among these is the inclu sion of the prescriptive elements ofthe CCME Tier I hydrocarbon method in - Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. "Reference Method for the Canada-Wide

Standard

for

Petroleum

Hydrocarbons in Soil - Tier 1 Method. 2001.

soil", and a requirement to apply the CCME approach for hydrocarbon

need to be approved in writing by the MOE, and listed as an exception. In

determination to a water matrix.

order to use methods deemed to be

Historically, petroleum hydrocar bon analyses have been difficult to reproduce between laboratories. This variability is the result of no single standardized approach to hydrocarbon analysis, from method selection to defining the analyte being analysed.

The new CCME petroleum hydro carbon method allows for improved inter-laboratory comparability of results, provided that the laboratories adhere to the same analytical proto cols, thus the "prescriptive" nature of

exceptions, the QP needs to have a physical copy of the MOE "exception" letter in order to be in compliance with the regulatory requirements. There may be some risk associated with "exception" methods due to the lack of comparability of results and the poten tial for future challenges to "the record

the method.

The impact of this change on Qualified Persons, is the need to be

of site condition".

Analytical performance a)Data Quantitation - The new regula tions for Brownfield site remediation,

Reg. 153, also incorporate prescriptive elements for calculations supporting: • Dioxin toxic equivalency (TEQ); • Method Detection Limits (MDLs);

suited for their needs based on the tim

• Precision; • Accuracy; • Measurement of Uncertainty.

For some laboratories these require ments mean little change to their cur rent standard operating procedures as most of these elements are required by

ing of their sampling events.

ISO/IEC 17025 standards and as such

able to run old and new methods con

currently, to deal with project overlaps around the compliance date (Oct. 1) of the new regulations. QPs need to examine each project situation closely and determine what approach is best

"Short cut" methods like "extrac

tion by sonication" are available but

are de facto processes in CAEAL/SCC accredited laboratories.

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40 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Environmental Analyses b)Data Reporting - An immediate out come from implementation of the new Regulation will be changes to report ing tables for soil, sediment and water.

Although appearing basic, this may represent a significant change for some clients who have specified data reporting formats, and may require special data exports. This will further

c)Laboratory QA - In addition to all of the other methodology and QA requirements that are clearly stated in the new Regulation, the new Regulation also incorporates prescrip tive elements for quality assurance among laboratories providing data in support of site assessments and reme-

enhance the need to be able to convert

cient

pre-regulation data into formats that comply with the new regulations, espe cially for projects whose start and fin ish will straddle the October 1 compli

resources should have little difficulty in compliance. These include such

diations. Most laboratories with suffi and

instrument

items as:

ance date.

The linkage with past data will be critical with some engineering firms since it could represent an addition of project administrative time that might not have been budgeted in their origi nal price proposal.

This will place further emphasis on electronic reporting and data transfer capabilities of all laboratories. The new responsibilities of the QP will introduce the need for "time manage ment" and strengthen the symbiotic relationship between lab and consult ant.

technical

• Frequency of QC sample analysis; • Acceptable surrogate recoveries; • Required actions in the event of fail ure to meet speeific QA targets; • Guidelines for calculating and reporting method detection limits.

Conclusion

The new Regulation provides high er analytical standards, greater trans parency, and most importantly, defined accountability throughout the entire

knowledge at the QP level, with deci sions being based increasingly on tech nical merit and risk mitigation versus price per test. In addition, laboratories will be required to provide enhanced educational resources by QPs in an effort to assist in their understanding and implementation of all of the new regulatory requirements.

Full compliance by all parties after October 1,2004 will have some impact relating to the professional eosts asso ciated with future projects and sites.

Specifically, engineering consultants and fully accredited analytical labora tories will need to recover costs

through pricing which will have an impact on future project budgets. But the new Regulation, because of its standardisation, should actually reduce long-term business risks to the owner of the contaminated site.

process.

Dr Andrew Masters is the VP Eastern

Qualified Persons, at the consulting level are now fully responsible for the selection of laboratory support servic es. This means a greater need for

Region and Dr Terry Obal is the Manager ofScientific Servicesfor Maxxarn Analytics. Contact e-mail: info@maxxamanalytics.com.

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 41

An emergency occurs at a fixed facility when the Fire Department or other agency takes command and control of the site as the lead agency.

When the fire alarm is acti

vated at a school and the

Fire Department responds, the event automatically becomes an "emergency" to the facili ty. The term emergency is loosely used at fixed facilities as well as by external emergency services, support agencies and organizations. Until the Fire Department gives the all clear or ter minates the emergency, the Fire Department is in control and nobody shall breech their orders.

An emergency occurs at a fixed

facility when the Fire Department or other agency takes command and con trol of the site as the lead agency.

When the facility loses control of its authority to act, an incident has then escalated to the level of an Emergency.

What is an event?

An event is uncontrolled, unplanned or an accident that may affect the envi

ronment, human life, health, or proper ty. The following definitions describe the three levels of an event that a fixed

facility may face;

trol the site. The fixed facility loses command and control of the facility.

Disaster - refers to an event that has

a high impact on human life and prop erty and is considered to be an extreme

or high-level emergency for the facility.

The driving forces for Emergency Response/Contingency Plans to be in place are intense and are specific to a facility's significant aspects and poten tial impacts that may occur. Bill C-45 should have owners, executives and

facility managed activity seek each other out to insure that appropriate plans are in place.

Getting started (Administration) • Who are the "Designated Go-to-Jail People"?

programs.

• Test review and update the system regularly.

This illustrates the need for top management and the operations side of the business to communicate and

develop a planning process that includes representatives from all sec tors of the organization.

Emergency Preparedness for ER Planning Meeting ISO 14001 (4.4.7) states: "The organization shall estab lish and maintain procedures to identi fy potential for and respond to acci dents and emergency situations, and for preventing and mitigating the envi ronmental impacts that may be associ

• Review the driving forces of ER

ated with them.

Plaruiing: legislation, market pressure, industry standards, etc.

• Develop policy that commits to a

revise, where necessary, its emergency preparedness and response procedures

plan, and delegates responsibility and authority to the field.

• Set up the ER Management positions.

• Develop and install a Site-Specific ER Plan or a Unified Incident

Incident - refers to an event that can

be handled by internal resources of the

Command System.

facility, and selected outside contrac tors. The fixed facility remains in com

• Review commitment and time lines.

mand and control of all activities.

•

Emergency - refers to a situation

that requires external emergency serv ices of fire departments, police, ambu lance or other ministry agencies that have the power to command and con

• Develop practical hands-on training

•

• •

Getting started (Operation) Conduct a preparedness and capability assessment.

Determine response needs.

Identify levels of competence.

Match response capability to ER plans and scales of impact.

42 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

"The organization shall review and

in particular after the occurrence of accidents or emergency situations.

"The organization shall also period ically test such procedures where prac tical."

Emergency planning for specific facilities

Site-specific-facility Emergency Response Plans or Incident Command Systems that are in place to manage and mitigate a spill or release to the environment require features that will allow the plan to address an incident, an emergency or a disaster. The Response System or Command

Spills Management System should be flexible so that it can be expanded or contracted as condi tions change, and also accommodate the involvement of multiple external agencies, contractors and specialists.

Authority at specific facilities is controlled by a board of directors/pres ident in the private sector or a minister in the govermnent sector that holds the highest level of accountability for all actions taken. Therefore, the initiating of an organization's commitments to Emergency Planning should be dele gated to the field by a directive or pol icy (e.g. Environmental Policy) that passes on the responsibility for a site's emergency preparedness to the facility manager.

At this point the facility manager should have full power to issue a loca tion-specific policy and to implement an Emergency Response System such as

a

Unified

Incident

Command

System that will work best for the site.

In many instances top management realize the personal and corporate lia bility involved by not having Emergency Plans and Policies in place.

Therefore, with good intent, directives and policies are issued to the facilities.

Top management may believe all is well from the grass roots up. This is wrong! Although the policies, direc tives and state of preparedness are of ultimate importance, the priority to make things happen at the grass roots level may become diluted with budget cuts, no designated funds, and tasks assigned to people who have the responsibility to get the job done but no authority to act or access funds to put what is required into place.

Consequently, top executives, board of directors, owners, and shareholders

may feel they have fulfilled the requirements of preparedness only to find out that very little is really in place. The moment of discovery usual ly comes after the fact during an inves tigation.

Planning Criteria should include a "needs assessment". Facilities should

not copy or adopt an existing system without determining their needs. For example, if a site decides to adopt the Incident Command System used by government agencies, without under standing their needs, then gaps, over sights and liabilities may occur due to the fact the system is not fine tuned to meet their needs when they lose com mand and control of their site.

Emergency response titles or positions To select a good Command, Control and Response Group it probably works best if Administrative Responders (support staff) and Operations Responders (responding staff) have designated titles with attached levels of responsibility and authority to administer controls, e.g. keep unneces sary personnel out; bypass routine

reporting systems; access required supplies, equipment and the special ized resources; and make uninterrupt ed decisions to deal with the hierarchy of the event. The term Emergency Manager refers to the highest level of authority at a facility that provides support, e.g. facility manager, mine manager, and mill manager, etc. This position is not included in the Incident Command structure.

In the Fire Department and govern ment Incident Command Systems, the role of the Incident Commander is ini

tially taken by the first responder who arrives at the scene. The responder is responsible for managing all tactical resources and overseeing operations until the next qualified person arrives to assume control and command.

In industry, the role of Incident Commander or Site Coordinator is a

very rigorous and demanding position.

This position in industry is to manage the event and protect corporate liabili ties. Therefore, it may be wise to reconsider the designation of the first responder in industry arriving at the scene as being the Incident

Response Plans should be userfriendly. The system may promote con fusion and misunderstanding during an event and if foreign/unfamiliar termi nology is used. For example the term 'managing all tactical resources' may not mean anything to industrial per sonnel who are not actively involved in emergency response, whereas the term 'overseeing the operation' will make more sense to other people.

The advantage of the Incident Command System is that it can expand out to cover major events such as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre or be consolidated to handle a

small spill in a laboratory. The most important factor is that the Incident Command System will provide a very comprehensive track to follow when determining the scope of your emer gency response activities.

A plan must be able to define when an "emergency exists" and when an "emergency is terminated".

Contact CliffHolland, e-mail: spillman@on.aibn.com.

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Commander.

For example, police and fire per sonnel are trained to assume command

and control of an event during each call that they respond to; this is routine duty or responsibility for them. In industry, personnel are trained to keep the corporate machine turning, not command and control an incident or

emergency; therefore, industry should make

the

role

of

the

Incident

Commander or Site Coordinator (pri vate sector) a specific title with a high level of responsibility, authority and accountability.

Spotters of an event/accident should be trained and/or educated to

call in the event, keep people away, etc.

In industry, it may be better for the Incident Commander or Site Coordi

nator to maintain this status as a quali fied position.

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 43

Conference PREVIEW

Calgary to host the 56th Annual WCWWA Conference October 17-20,2004 Telus Convention Centre,Calgary,Alberta

Dr.David W. Schindler, from the University of Alberta, will deliver the keynote address at the

Western Canada Water and Wastewater Association's 2004 annual conference. Or Schindler has studied the freshwaters of Canada and the

northern USA for 45 years. From 1968 to 1989, he found

ed and directed the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario, conducting interdisciplinary research on

the effects of eutrophication, acid rain, climate change and other human insults on boreal aquatic ecosystems. His work on eutrophication and acid rain has been widely used in formulating ecological management policy in Canada, the USA and in Europe.

The conference will kick off with several CEU accredit

ed Sunday workshops and tours. Workshop topics include: laboratory accreditation, watershed management, public/private partnerships and asset management, and cogeneration at wastewater treatment plants

Scheduled Sunday tours include the Banff Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Calgary Zoo, the Calgary Glenmore Water Treatment Plant and the Calgary Bonnybrook Wastewater Treatment Plant.

A highly diverse technical program of water and wastewater sessions will cover:

• Money savings • UV disinfection

• Regulatory update and issues

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• Membrane applications • When biosolids hit the fan

• Looking into the wastewater crystal ball • Wet weather loadings

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volume reduction.The ThickTech commonly reduces sludges by 90% with a 98% capture rate. The system is quite compact and requires less floor space than other thickeners. It is economical

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44 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Forfurther information, contact the WCWWA at Tel: 1-877-283-2003, 403-283-2003, Fax: 403-283-2007, E-mail: member@wcwwa.ca, or Web: www.wcwwa.ca.

Conference PREVIEW

University of British Columbia professor to receive top water quality award at WEFTEC wastewater

October 2-6,2004

development of future engineers.

field

Peter H. Gleick, President and Co-

and a combination

Ernest N.Morial Convention

Center,New Orleans, Louisiana

Dr.William K. Oldham wil receive

Founder

Dr. William K.

of the

Pacific

Institute

(Oakland, California) will be the keynote Opening General Session speaker. Dr. Gleick is an international ly recognized water expert whose research and writings

prestigious

sion and went on to

Oidham,

address the critical

Gordon Maskew Fair Medal

become leaders in

will receive

for Outstanding Service in Engineering Education from the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The presentation will be made during cere

environmental

coimections between water and human

monies

held

the

of teaching skills and practical expe rience. Nearly 200 students completed graduate degrees under his supervi

October

5

in

New

Orleans, Louisiana at WEFTEC* 04, the Federation's 77th annual technical conference and exhibition.

According to the WEF, Professor Oldham inspired numerous undergrad uate students to continue graduate studies and careers in wastewater engi neering by his enthusiasm for the

engineering

in

prestigious Gordon Maskew Fair Medai

North America.

In addition, he almost single-hand edly built the graduate studies program in environmental engineering at the University of British Columbia and was one of the pioneers in biological nutrient removal and water reuse in Western Canada.

The Gordon Maskew Fair Medal is

presented to a member for worthy accomplishments in the training and

Peter H. Gieick, keynote speaker at WEFTEC

health, the hydrologic impacts of climate change, sustainable water use, privatiza tion and globaliza tion, and internation al conflicts over water resources.

The technical program at WEFTEC 04 is designed to address key issues in water and wastewater, including: continued overleaf...

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 45

Conference PREVIEW • Collection Systems - Management, operations & maintenance, infrastruc ture, overflow reduction, wet weather planning, watershed approaches, and regulations.

• Membrane Technologies - Appli cation in wastewater and water reuse,

innovations, enhanced performance, regulatory compliance.

• Plant Operations and Treatment Innovations, technologies, processes, and proven solutions in water and wastewater treatment.

• Regulations - CMOM/SSO Rules, TMDL/Watershed Rules, and NPDES Phase II.

• Research - New process applications in water and wastewater treatment and

recent developments.

• Residuals & Biosolids - Inciner

ation, disposal, reuse through land application, research, regulations, pol itics, and public perception.

• Utility Management - Asset Man agement and financial planning for infrastructure, technology, regulatory compliance, and security.

• Water Reuse/Recycling - Research,

regulations, emerging technologies,

and watershed issues.

proven processes.

• Water Quality & Watershed Man agement - Stormwater, wet weather.

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Environmental Monitoring

Unmanned boat defends coastal waters

By Dr. Brenda Townsend-Hall

Work has begun in the UK to build an unmanned sur

face vehicle (USV) capa ble of operating in shallow water to provide a faster, more effi cient way of measuring water quality and carrying out environmental sur veys.

The Springer project at Plymouth University, southern England, aims to stimulate the growth of United Kingdom expertise in USV technology that is attracting increasing interest worldwide. The sources of coastal pol lution originating from the land vary from country to country - arising from sewage systems, agricultural run-off and various forms of industrial dis

charge.

To control the impact of pollution on the coastal environment it is essen

tial to identify the types and amounts of pollution present, a process that involves determining the sources, loca tion, volume and concentration of the pollutants.

Existing methods of tracking these pollutants to their source, such as boat sampling and airborne sensing, are expensive, but they are also of limited effectiveness because they cannot be used easily in shallow water. The need to staff them with operators is another

factor making them more expensive to run than a remote-controlled device.

Because almost 40 per cent of our planet's population live in coastal areas, fewer then 60 km from shore

lines, it is clear that the quality of coastal waters can have a significant impact on the lives of millions of peo ple worldwide.

Pollution of coastal waters and

inland waterways can pose a human health hazard as well disturbing the natural balance of the organisms for which these waters are a habitat. This

project, with its cost-efficient system for tracing pollution and its sources, can make a valuable contribution to

improving the quality of coastal waters globally.

Springer - named after the Springer spaniel, a breed of dog renowned for its tracking abilities - will be equipped with sensors for measuring conductiv ity, temperature, turbidity, pH, dis solved oxygen and other parameters. It will enable comprehensive studies to be undertaken more economically than is possible today.

With funding primarily from the UK's Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Springer is being built by a multidisciplinary team including engineering and artifi cial intelligence experts. Industrial and public-sector partners are also involved.

About

3m

long, 1.5m wide and with a twin

hull, the vehicle is designed to work

autono

mously or under remote

manual

control. Springer will use a wire less link to com municate

The project team will harness a range of skills covering artificial intelli gence, advanced control systems engi neering theory, multi-sensor data fusion, dynamics, propulsors and inte grated navigation systems.

Professor Bob Sutton, leading the initiative, said: "We aim to produce full-scale trials data of interest to envi

ronmental and marine agencies, and to industry. The information generated by vehicles like Springer could make a major contribution to the effective cleaning up of our waterways."

Contact: Professor Bob Sutton, Email: r.sutton@plymouth.ac.iik., Web: www.plymouth.ac.uk.

Waste -

The Social Context May 11 to 14,2005 - Edmonton,Canada

Call for Papers While the solutions to our waste problems are often focused on technology, the envi ronmental and social aspects have been widely neglected. By bringing together sci entists and practitioners from a wide vari ety of disciplines Waste - The Social Context provides a forum for discussion on the broader implications of waste.

Presentations, and case studies, that address the following topics are invited:

Attitudes and behaviour, stakeholder par ticipation and involvement, environmental policy, economics of waste management, sustainability of waste management, envi ronmental justice and ethics. For more information visit www.ewmce.com.

Abstracts should be no more than 200

transmit collect

words

ed

name(s), title and affiliation. Submit your abstract via email by October 15, 2004 to:

data.

The

vehicle will be

electrically pow ered thus avoid

Research Council.

automatic and manual control modes.

with

its operator and

Professor Bob Sutton (left) and a colleague at Plymouth University work on Springer, an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). Photo; Jane Reck, Engineering & Physical Sciences

phere.

A key feature will be the develop ment of an innovative navigation, guid ance and control system that will allow Springer to switch seamlessly between

ing the possibili ty of diesel con tamination

of

and

must include

the

author

Dr. Daryl McCartney, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Email: daryl.mccartney@ualberta.ca

water or atmos

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 47

Water Treatment

Uranium removal vital to public health

By Chris Hansen

The radioactive chemical ele

um complexes are very heavy, which allows the RO process to work in the 95-99 percent rejection range. Reverse

ment, Uranium (U) is not at all

osmosis does have limitations around

rare. There is more uranium in

process efficiency and may incur high maintenance and operational costs due to the effects of mineral deposition on the membrane. There may also be dif ficulty dealing with high rejection

the earth's crust than cadmium,

bismuth, silver, mercury and iodine.

High concentrations of uranium are found in an ore deposit that covers much of central Canada. A uranium-

rich band of earth runs across the top of Saskatchewan, through central Manitoba, along the top of the Great Lakes, eventually heading in a south eastern direction cutting through east ern Ontario. Naturally occuring urani um can be found around eastern areas

of Canada all the way south to the New England area of the United States.

Some important uranium ores include pitchblende, uraninite, carnotite, autunite, and torbenite, which are found throughout the coun try. Uranium in groundwater may occur in all areas near this natural ore

deposit.

These ores are sources of nuclear

fuel and can produce tremendous amounts of energy in comparison to fossil fuels. One pound of uranium yields as much energy as three million pounds of coal.

When ingested, uranium attacks the bone structure and the kidneys. This destruction takes place over a long period of time due to the exceptionally low radioactivity per unit volume of the two major isotopes, U-235 and U238. Evidence has shown that the can

cer-causing alpha particle emission closely resembles that of radium and that the health effects published for radium can be used as a surrogate for

waste volumes from a waste manage ment standpoint.

Lime softening has proven to be effective, but is also very pH-dependent. The addition of lime in the dosage range of 100-200 mg/1 should raise the

pH to 10-11. This has proven to be effective for removing 80 percent of the uranium present. To obtain higher levels of removal, it is necessary to add magnesium carbonate (MgC03) with the lime. When dosage levels of MgC03 are in the 100 mg/1 range, tests show that greater than 95 percent of the uranium can be removed. Lime

softening will produce a sludge cake containing uranium and disposal of the residual solids must be considered.

Another treatment method is con

ventional coagulation/filtration, using aluminum sulfate (alum) or a ferrrous sulfate. In the dosage range of 10-30 mg/1 and a pH of less than or equal to 10, it is possible to remove greater than 90 percent ofthe uranium present. This process is also pH-dependent. Tests show that lowering the pH to the 4-8 range will result in a drop in perform ance to below the 50 percent removal range. Like lime softening, the man agement of residual solids from coag

ulation and filtration must be taken into consideration.

Ion exchange is an effective means of reducing the level of uranium in water. Both cation and anion resins have been evaluated for uranium removal. Cation resin is most effective

when used in the hydrogen form. It is thought that when the uranium carbon ate complex passes through the acid bed, it is reduced to a uranium cation.

This is very effective for obtaining removal rates in the 90-95 percent

range, but the effluent will have a pH of less than or equal to 3.5. Cation resin in the sodium form can produce results in the 70 percent removal range when the pH is less than 7.

Anion resin has proved to be very effective due to the fact that in surface

and groundwater supplies, the uranium will usually exist as an anion complex.

Tests show that anion resin in the chlo

ride form is capable of reducing urani um levels by 90-99 percent. Ion exchange often proves to have the highest process efficiency resulting in low aqueous waste volumes.

In summary, there are several effec tive means of reducing the uranium content in ground and surface water supplies. The best treatment method would have to be determined for indi

vidual applications and requirements.

Chris Hansen is VP. Engineered Systems/Community Water Systems at Kinetico Incorporated. For more information, contact Community Water Canada at 519-927-9500.

uranium. The current detection level

for uranium is 0.5 pCi/1 (picocuries per litre), and the Canadian Federal Drinking Water Guidelines indicate a maximum contaminant level(MCL)of 20 mg/1 (30 pCi/1).

Treatment methods

There are several treatment meth

ods for reducing the level of uranium in water, including distillation and electrodialysis reduction. Perhaps the most effective method is reverse osmo

sis. The RO membrane works as a

molecular filter that rejects positively and negatively charged ions based on molecular weight. Uranium and urani

Lakes in the Canadian Shield region often have high levels of uranium, posing problems for communities using them as a water source.

48 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

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Attendees from around the

world will gather to learn the newest technological advances, discuss their latest research projects, and share pertinent Information. The workshops, technical sessions, poster session, exhibits, and facility tours are designed to keep you up-to-date and allow for maximum networking with your colleagues.

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■ 6 special topic sessions on the timely Issues of algae toxin and taste and odor, laboratory ethics, perchlorate regulatory, pathogen fate and transport In watersheds and reservoirs, total maximum dally loads, and planning strategies to meet the LT2 DDBPR ■ 6 early bird sessions on topics such as VFARs molecular detection changes, microblal monitoring for the new groundwater rule, managing salinity In sourcewater, update on the Total Collform Rule development, update on Atrazlne, and public and community relations regarding Washington, D.C. lead Issues ■ 9 in-depth and interactive workshops on the evolution of emerging analytical methods from a lab perspective, filter evaluation procedures for

granular media, analysis of algae In water supplies, disinfection by-products.

Impact of disinfectants on blomass In distribution systems, molecular detec tion techniques, monitoring plans for distribution systems, developing water quality based BMPs for distribution systems, and analysis and treatment of elevated lead levels In Washington, D.C. drinking water ■ 3 technical facility tours that Include SeaWorld's filtration and water

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Energy

Hydrogen fuel:vision to reality

By Lucy Casacia

Turning the hydrogen economy

vision into reality requires many forces coming together including the industrial mag nates and their strategic interests while seeking co-sponsorships with govern

Above: A hydrogen fuel station for buses at the Munich Airport. Left: A hydrogen storage system at a filling

ments.

Canada and Germany have 'green oriented' governments, but each has taken different paths for success, dic tated by the competing interests of

major industrial players, including the automotive, power, and oil industries.

The success of hydrogen-based sys tems depends on the power play

between these three industry groups.

Strategic interests and experiences in the German industry In Germany, the automotive indus try is one of pillars of the German

economy, which depends on global competitiveness. Germany does not have a strong oil industry and electric ity has a high cost due to lack of low priced natural resources. Canada, in contrast, has vast natural resources

allowing for cheap power generation.

While we have Alberta for oil and gas, Canada's automotive industry is main ly a sub-supplier primarily to the US and Japan.

In the German automotive industry, leading players are evaluating options to establish their position in the hydroLearning

1st level

Phase

Fueling

(Pitac

Network

station, based on German submarine technology.

gen hierarchy and leap frog ahead of the status quo. Clearly, everyone wants to be ready to participate with their own technological solution in the

future market, but everybody fears the cost of the change.

There is an obvious commitment by the German automotive industry to produce more sustainable alternatives for fueling cars. Over the last few years, the main focus in the German industry was around two alternatives: on-board hydrogen generation and hydrogen fuel stations. The oil indus try favours on-board generation of hydrogen which alleviates them from large capital investments in a hydrogen infrastructure. In contrast, the automo tive industry in Germany favours hydrogen supply to cars. In both areas there are champions; those investing in hydrogen fuel stations, and those

investing in many new technological

t Increasing

1B

Market

|||B

{^12,000 0,000

W 8,000

D)4,000

^ 2,000 1,000

2015

The German Roadmap to a Hydrogen Infrastructure 50 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

solutions but the final decision seems

to be moving towards integrating hydrogen fuel stations, alongside gaso line and diesel pumps.

The oil industry has already made heavy investment commitments with co-sponsorship of government as demonstrated in the road map for Germany's Transport Energy Strategy where there are five stages of market development.

An initial learning phase will have some 20 company-owned hydrogen fuel stations. Pioneers will be munici

palities and airports with transporta tion fleets (Phase 1), the set-up of an initial hydrogen fueling station net work with some 1,000 filling stations (Phase 2), followed by market penetra

(Phase 4).

Goverment

RoH-out

2010

All German car manufacturers have

developed their own technological

pated until 2015 (Phase 3). Projections for total market coverage into the year 2020 could comprise over 10,000 sites

Prqectsj

Sponsored

bustion engines to fuel cell propulsion systems, including on-board hydrogen generation.

tion with financial incentives antici

Total Market Coverage

7 Penetration

^16,000 14,000

systems, ranging from internal com

2020

The German power industry is sponsoring the electrolytical genera tion of hydrogen from water at fuel sta tions, but due to the high electricity costs in Germany, they might only be competitive if it is generated during off-peak hours and stored.

The German chemical industry is sponsoring liquid hydrogen, with cen tralized large hydrogen generation plants with established liquid hydrogen distribution networks, and liquid hydrogen storage tanks for cars. The winning technology for the future mar ket will be determined by whoever is

Energy first with an economical and practical product to set the standard.

Bavarian based companies includ ing BMW and Linde seem to be in the forefront of the race. For over four

years at the Munich airport, a consor tium of approximately 20 German companies have been operating the first fully integrated hydrogen fuel sta tion, supplying liquid and gaseous hydrogen to the airport bus fleet and the first private BMW hydrogen cars.

They have demonstrated the viabil ity of various technological solutions on an industrial scale and created tech

nical standards, which are difficult to ignore. Now they are trying to set up the standards for the competition in the future European market. The major

question left will centre around the acceptable norms and costs.

The situation in Canada

In Canada, the situation is different.

There are over 100 companies already chasing the hydrogen rainbow.

Although there is considerable credi bility already established with hydro gen and fuel cell solutions, Canada doesn't have the power to set the stan

dards for cars like the German automo

tive industry, they can only support them.

Canada is the second largest coun try in the world with a small popula tion characterized by a many densely populated areas with more remote communities. Germany, with a dense population of approximately 70 mil lion, however, is smaller than the province of Alberta.

In Canada, the ways to introduce hydrogen may be quite different from successful German solutions. We have

to find ways to generate hydrogen at fuel stations all over the country in a cost-effective way. A few companies in British Columbia and Ontario are pur suing hydrogen networks. A main stakeholder is the Canadian power industry, since cheap centralized hydrogen production from Canada's low-cost electric power offers advan tages. The wide geographic spread of the country is an obstacle since it weighs heavily on cost infrastructures and penalizes supply networks. There will be a need for new technological solutions that can operate in remote

areas at reasonable prices.

Possibly the biggest challenge will be how to pursue sustainable trans portation fuels with zero-emission policies in an affordable way. The suc cess of hydrogen generation technolo gy at fuel stations will most definitely depend on being reliable, safe and cost-effective. The German example has demonstrated that hydrogen sys tems can be reliable and safe. The main

frontier to conquer remains the costs and political support for new sustain able strategies.

Another important reason for hydrogen awareness in Canada is, according to the Canadian Export Corporation, the international market size based on global demand is esti mated to approach $50 billion a year by 2011. This is good news as it pro vides motivation for advancements

because no matter how much people wave the environmental flag, the bot tom line seems to prevail.

Lucy Casacia is President and CEO of Adventis Capital Inc. Contact e-mail: lcasacia@adventiscapital.com.

Project Manager - Environmental Services

© BURNSiDE Burnside has been helping clients find cost effective and'innovative solutions to

their environmental needs for more

than 30 years.

PHH Environmental through our recent acquisition of ARC inc., an Alberta based environmental engineering firm (www.arcinc.ab.ca) offering a unique combination of environmental, health and safety services to a variety of pub lic and private sector clients, has an exciting new opportunity for a qualified professional to join a growing firm with strong corporate culture in our Richmond location to replicate those services to the existing marketplace.

The successful candidate will be a dynamic individual with a strong business sense and substantial experience in environmental site assessment/remedi ation. Staff management experience, a solid record of successful project management and strong report writing, field work and entrepreneurial skills are required. A minimum eight years experience in environmental consult ing/management and a professional designation is required.

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 51

Tidal Power

Is the tide set to turn for clean power?

The elusive goal ofdiscovering a practical way to produce elec tric power with no risk to the

environment could soon be in

sight - thanks to the certain and unceasing flow of the

Richard Ayre says; "The environ mental impact is virtually zero. There

predictable with operators aware of exactly how much power it would pro duce, and when. And the modular sys tem is designed to be installed in and

is no need for foundations that would

removed from its subsea location in

turn through 360 degrees to seek the tidal direction.

just one day.

Free flowing currents, strong and consistent enough to guarantee costeffective power genera tion are found in many

seas' tides.

United Kingdom engi neers are researching the practical prospects of generating ultra-clean power in experiments off the coast of Wales. They are delighted with their progress in proving the potential of a new sub merged system that could bring major economic

close-to-shore locations

globally.

A

"Initial

in

"We have determined sta

and environmental bene fits for seaboard nations worldwide.

Following highly promising underwater rig tests, marine engineer Richard Ayre and his UK company Tidal Hydraulic Generators are designing

trials

Milford Haven waterway revealed very interesting results," said Mr. Ayre.

Underwater works: the natural ebb and flow of the tide could

produce ultra-clean electricity which would bring major econom ic and environmental benefits for seaboard nations globaiiy.

an underwater turbine, similar to a small wind turbine, that can be sub

merged in a scour channel - an under sea valley through which a constant

disturb the seabed; nothing on the sur face of the sea, so no visual impact; and lubrication is by vegetable oil.

There is no risk to the environment and

low risk in technical terms, because the

knots provides a high-energy source of

system uses a combination of existing technologies in a novel way."

He added that, unlike previous schemes to generate power from the sea, the capital investment required for this tidal flow power system is highly cost-competitive. It could generate power at between half and the same cost as proposed off-shore wind farms, with no visual or structural presence to spoil coastal views or impede ship ping. Energy generation would be fully

The ballasted turbine unit will rest

on the scoured seabed at a depth of some 60 metres, where it will reap the full benefit of tidal flow. There, it will be deep enough to avoid potential damage from the effects of storms that can whip up random and violent sur

minute. The hard data we

have gained means we can model the inter-rela-

tidal flow of between two and four

usable power.

ble data for power output to water speed, compared with maximum power over a variety of turbineblade tip speeds and out put revolutions per

tionship of multiple turbines with a great deal of confidence. This will lead to the design of an operational seabed unit. We have also developed a selfcleaning system that prevents encrus tation and fouling of the turbine."

The next series of trials will focus

on a rig placed in the estuary of the River Severn in south-east Wales

where immensely powerful and vari able tidal flows will test the integrity and reliability of the system under harsh conditions.

Meanwhile, the UK team is also working on an inexpensive and effi height, disturbing underwater tidal cient method of transmitting energy away from an operational tidal flow flows. The turbine head is designed to farm by converting the electrical power it generates into hydrogen in a Totten Sims Hublcki Associates Is a muitidisclpiinary consulting engineering firm providing design services to the public and private sector. purpose-built unit inside the trial rig.

The project was launched in 1997 following joint research with the

face waves 14 metres or more in

Manager,Infrastructure Design â&#x20AC;˘ whitby

We are looking for a person to lead the expansion of the infrastructure group in Whitby. Other responsibilities include the management of projects from conception through to completion, including design of watermains and sanitary sewers, staffing, project approvals, client liaison, cost estimating, tendering, scheduling and budget controls. The successful candidate is a licensed R Eng. and has a minimum of 8 years of Ontario infrastructure project management experience. Outstanding written and oral communication skills are required, along with a thorough understanding of the Ontario Environmental market.

We offer a competitive compensation package. Please apply in writing to: HR Coordinator, TSH,300 Water Street, Whitby, ON LI N 9J2 Fax:(905)668-0221 â&#x20AC;˘ E-mail: tcurrie@tsh.ca We thank all candidates for their interest: however only those invited for interviews will be contacted.

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Pembrokeshire Coast Marine Nature

Reserve into the practicality of posi tioning a wave-monitoring buoy three kilometres offshore, part of a scheme to investigate methods of protecting this rich area of marine life from trawlers.

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52 Environmental Sdence & Engineering,September 2004

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Wastewater

Wastewater treatment plant upgrades for Kingston's urban growth and development

By Dan Lalande,P. Eng., J.L Richards & Associates Limited application of untreated septage will no longer be permitted.

• Implement odour treatment meas ures using an environmentally friendly technology to mitigate environmental and social impacts to plant neigh bours.

• Construct the works while maintain

Left: Twin flow meters and custom transition pieces in existing rectangular channel will provide the data required for flow paced chemical dosage. Right: Instaiiation of chimney extension in grit tank.

The Kingston West Wastewater

Treatment Plant (WWTP) was originally constructed as a con ventional activated sludge

facility. As the surrounding area devel oped, three treatment plants were added on the same site to achieve a

total rated treatment capacity of

38,800 m^/day.

Over time, flows were directed to only plants C and D due to the condi tion of aging plants A and B. The chal lenge was to develop a program to cost-effectively optimize plants C and D to reclaim the full site capacity lost with the decommissioning of plants A and B without constructing another train.

Other project objectives included: • Increase and optimize capacity of the two largest treatment plants(C&D) in a cost-effective manner through re use of redundant tanks while perma nently decommissioning the two oldest plants(A&B).

• Optimize process controls and improve operational flexibility, which would enable plant staff to further enhance the environmental perform ance of the plant and surpass regulato ry requirements.

• Implement a Septage Receiving Facility to provide a needed service to the rural residents of Kingston and three surrounding Counties, as under the Nutrient Management Act, land

ing plant operations and compliance with the regulatory effluent require ments to continue to protect the envi ronment.

Plant optimization and designing for flexibility Installation of new flow meters,

using a unique and customized design for the influent and effluent tapered transitions from a rectangular charmel to a circular conduit, now enables plant staff to pro-actively control flow split ting between the two optimized plants and to flow-pace chemical dosages based on incoming flows with an immediate and automated response.

Such a strategy was needed due to lim ited head loss being available for the new metering devices.

Historically, flow splitting and chemical dosage were adjusted based on flows measured at the outlet of the

plant, with a 24 to 36 hour time delay due to the hydraulic retention time

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54 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Wastewater through the process. This innovative installation has resulted in an opti mized use of chemicals and better

process control.

The optimization program involved implementation of a fifth secondary clarifier, resulting in three different sizes of clarifiers downstream of four

equally sized aeration tanks. This cre ated an unusual challenge for splitting and redistributing flows based on sur face area of each clarifier after the aer

ation phase of the process. New chan nels, including a new pre-cast inboard launder equipped with outlet ports and slide gates, were installed to provide an effective and reliable operating strate gy. This feature is unique to the Kingston West Plant and required a non-conventional design strategy.

Septage receiving There are approximately 64,000 households in the City of Kingston and the three neighbouring Counties on private septic systems. Under the Nutrient Management Act, land appli cation of untreated septage will no longer be permitted. The Septage Receiving Facility implemented as part of this project will provide a need ed service and will enhance the social

corrosive to some metals, and is toxic

to humans, causing headaches, nausea, and eye irritation, even at low concen trations.

Rated Riant Capacity: 38,800 mVd

The Kingston West Plant's location relative to surrounding residential and cottage properties required a proactive approach to odour treatment and miti gation.

The biofiltration technology imple mented as part of the upgrades miti gates potential odour impact from the septage receiving facility and the new sludge thickening process. The odour treatment system utilizes composted wood rootstock and biological processes to remove odorous com pounds from the air stream. This "lowtech" system is the most cost-effective technology available, is environmen tally friendly, chemical addition is not required, the spent filter material is benign and can be composted, and the energy requirements are lowest. This system will ensure that the environ mental and social quality of life for the plant neighbours is not adversely affected.

25 mg/L

Phosphorous

1.0 mg/L

Post-Project Performance: BOD

5.8 mg/L

TSS

7.4 mg/L

Phosphorous 0.4 mg/L Construction partnership Designing and implementing vari ous upgrades to optimize and increase the capacity of two existing plants while maintaining operation and com pliance with effluent requirements resulted in a level of complexity that is rarely encountered.

Traditionally, design firms prepare drawings and specifications for the

proposed works and the contractor is continued overleaf...

Station records temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction,

The new Septage Receiving Facility is equipped with dual unloading points, surge/storage tanks, primary screening/grinding, gas detection and

Challenges included maintaining septage receiving during construction and implementation within available space. Several redundant tanks result ing from decommissioning of the two oldest plants were reused as part of the optimization program for septage equalization and the sludge thickening

TSS

The new HOBO Weather

water resources.

system.

Certificate of Approval Limits: BOD 25 mg/L

HOBO Weather Station

and environmental quality of life to the rural residents of Kingston and sur rounding communities. More impor tantly, septage treatment is a step in the right direction in protecting ground-

semi-automated control and invoicing

Overall Project Cost; $10IVI Construction Duration: 50 weeks

solar radiation, barometric pressure, soil moisture, soil temperature, etc.

#

• Smart sensors - just plug in and begin logging!

• No calibration or complex wiring required • Runs for one year on 4 AA batteries

• 15 channels can log over

process.

Odour management

500,000 measurements

Odours from a Water Pollution Control Plant can have an adverse

effect on surrounding properties. For example, hydrogen sulphide (HjS) is one of the most commonly known

gases. Produced from the decomposi tion of organic waste in anaerobic con ditions, such as septage waste, HjS has a characteristic rotten egg smell, is

-HOSKIN

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 55

Wastewater 2500 Temporary chimney

installed blindly through 1.5m of sewage

Pump discharge hose To Admin. Bidg. basement

Two layers of

geo^rtthetic day liner as 'gaskets"

/ Failed gate valve

at on-srte pumping staticm

Fctrcemain -

6000 Forcemain

In operation;

involved, the consulting engineers

developed the drawings and specifica tions, including a detailed construction sequence, to a higher level of detail than normally seen. This detailed con struction sequence, developed in con sultation with plant staff and then fol lowed by the construction team, allowed the plant to remain in opera tion and in compliance with its regula tory requirements during the construc tion phase.

Cooperation between the engineers, plant staff, and the contractor was put to the test when an old valve on a 600

/Submersible /pumpused

mm diameter raw sewage forcemain

x,

Todewater

failed to close. This valve needed to be

from discharge

closed and to seal fully to permit sig

â&#x2013; 'end

nificant modifications to the ou-site

Schematic showing detaiis of the chimney installation in grit tank to permit dewatering of forcemain due to existing valve failure.

left to determine the constructability

challenges and the cost to phase and stage the works while tendering the

project. This has often resulted in high-

er tendered prices. Given the nature of the work and the level of complexity

Industrial CoriUol Valves

Flow Measurement

m

raw sewage pumping station while in full temporary by-pass pumping mode at a cost of $6,000 per day. The engi neers developed a concept to dewater the forcemain from the discharge end

by installing a "chimney" extension blindly under 1.5 m of raw sewage.

The strategy was completely fleshedout and implemented by the construc tion team within 24 hours. Innovation

and teamwork during construction by the contractor, engineers, and plant staff saved the owner significant addi tional by-pass pumping costs and allowed the works to proceed in a time ly and safe manner.

Project benefits Infrastructure investment is costly so public dollars need to be spent wise ly. The optimization program re-estab lished the plant's rated capacity at the lowest life cost. This will permit con tinued urban growth and as a result stimulate economic growth and devel opment. More importantly, the plant's improved performance resulting from the optimization program will ensure that the treated effluent does not

adversely affect the water quality with in Lake Ontario and the St-Lawrence

River, vital sources of drinking water

Pilot Operated dpm ferlluidhantllii

for several communities downstream.

The program was completed suc cessfully and cost-effectively, while keeping the plant in operation and in

compliance with its effluent require ments. A post-construction process evaluation concluded that the actual

Phone valcanada@cla Website: www.cia-vai.com

process capacity of the optimized treatment units exceeds regulatory requirements.

Contact e-mail: dlalande@jlrichards.ca.

56 Environmental Science & Engineering, September 2004

Conference REVIEW

BCWWA's annual conference In

Whistler attracts 1,052 delegates Ministry of Health presented Minister Hansen's keynote address, which updated delegates on several key ini tiatives.

AWWA President Marley Price (left) presents Warren Fuller Award to Past President Inder Singh.

By of ering 101 high quality technical papers, 78 concur

rent sessions and several well

organized social events, the British Columbia Water and Waste Association was able to increase atten

dance at its 2004 conference by 13% over last year.

A spokesperson from the BC

ANNOUNCEMENT Kenneth A. Morrison,

P.Eng., President, is pieased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jonathan Knoyie

In 2000, the government introduced its 'Source to Tap' Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water, and on May 16, 2003, it enacted the amended Drinking Water Protection Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulation. Two million dollars a year in base funding has been allocated to hire new drinking water protection staff at the health authority level. In addition to new staff the gov ernment has formed a Council on

Drinking Water.

The ministry's Action Plan requires that tap water be regularly monitored and meet acceptable safety standards.

The Drinking Water Protection Act requires increased inspection and test ing. In addition to the monitoring requirements of the Drinking Water Protection Act and its regulation, con-

WEF President Lawrence JaworskI

(right) presents Neal Carley with Arthur Sidney Bedell Award and out going WEF Director Award.

ditions are being placed on operating permits that will require specific mon itoring for individual water supply sys tems. continued overleaf...

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R.V. Anderson Associates Limited has

been engaged in the provision of profes sional engineering, operations and man agement services since 1948.The organ ization comprises environmental and infrastructure specialists for water, wastewater, transportation, and urban development. The company is wholly owned by its Principals and Associates, providing services to the public and pri vate sectors in Canada and internationally.

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Conference REVIEW The 15 laboratories that are current

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The conference also featured an

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Operators competition, which was won by the team from Chilliwack.

BCWWA also sponsors an Operator of the Year Award, which was won by Dennis Dugas, EPCOR's Water and Wastewater Supervisor in Port Hardy.

Neil Carley was presented with the Arthur Sidney Bedell Award by WEF President Lawrence Jaworski.

BCWWA Past President Inder

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Environmental Remediation

Scientist uses sound to solve toxic oil sands

problem

With funding from Petro-Canada, a scientist at

Calgary's Mount Royal College plans to use sound technology to tackle the problem of toxic waste in tailings ponds left over from Alberta's oil sands development.

Dr. Lawton Shaw, a chemistry instructor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Sciences, has won the 2004 Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award to support his research into the Degradation of Naphthenic Acids via Sonication. Dr. Shaw will investigate whether ultrasonic waves can be used to treat water con

taminated with naphthenic acids, a component of crude petroleum.

"This is an applied research project relating to the envi ronment and oil sands extraction, which are of obvious

importance to this province," says Shaw."Naphthenic acids are quite toxic and there's almost no way of dealing with the environmental problems associated with them. I'm working on a project on how to destroy them."

Naphthenic acids are released through the Clark process of oil sands extraction, which uses caustic soda to separate

I' Dr. Lawton Shaw (centre) of Mount Royal College and lab assistant Brayden McCue demonstrate for Jim Taylor of Petro-Canada how they will use a gas chromatograph to measure the effectiveness of ultrasonic radiation in treat

ing contaminated water from oil sands production.

the bitumen from the sand. These compounds end up as a component of the wastewater in tailings ponds around the mining facilities. Shaw theorizes that sonication, which has been used successfully to treat groundwater contaminated with other compounds such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive, can be applied in this case as well. continued overleaf...

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 59

Environmental Remediation "Sonication is basically sending ultrasonic radiation through water to oxidize or destroy organic com pounds," says Shaw. "It does work but it has never been used in this applica tion and we don't know if it will be

efficient enough."

Tim Taylor, Team Leader for Technical and Project Services at Petro-Canada, says the Petro-Canada Young Irmovator Award is intended to provide financial support for an out standing faculty member initiating innovation in teaching and research.

While this research does not apply directly to Petro-Canada's operations in the oil sands because it uses a differ

ent method of extraction, it may prove to have broader applications.

"Water is a very topical issue with in Alberta for the oil and gas industry and we're looking to support further research so eventually we can improve water quality and improve our opera tions," says Taylor. "We believe this technology will have a field benefit if it can be proven to be economical in treating water. While this is being

designed for a particular type of water there is potential that once the tech nique is perfected it might work on other types of contaminated water."

The laboratory research involves working out analytical methods of measuring the concentration of these compounds. That will be followed by studies on sonication in a laboratory setting and, finally, analysis of the data, including estimating the cost of applying this technology to the tailings ponds in northern Alberta.

In addition to the research, there is

also a teaching component to the proj ect. Shaw hired a summer student,

Brayden McCue, to assist with the laboratory work. McCue has been busy doing some of the analytical work in preparation for the project. Beyond the potential applications of this research, Shaw says the teaching aspect is particularly rewarding."A lot of the gratification comes from involv ing a student in this project. It's satis fying to watch him learn through this research," he says.

"It's very difficult for young

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researchers to compete for research grants so this fund enables young sci entists to get support to do a project and further their careers," adds Bryan Lane, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. "At the same time it's a very good opportunity to hire a stu dent. So we get a double benefit. The student gets employment and experi ence and the young scientist gets a step up in his career."

Dr. Branko Peterman, Director of

Mount Royal's Institute for Applied Scientific Research, says this is the type of project that the College wants to encourage. "Our focus is applied research as opposed to knowledgedriven research that universities do.

Canada has ample opportunities for applied research so we don't want to compete with universities but we want to be competitive on an applied level," says Peterman.

Dr. Shaw planned to complete his lab experiments by the end of the sum mer and to produce a report this fall.

Contact e-mail: lshaw@mtroyal.ca.

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60 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

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Noise Pollution

Functional sound absorbing panels reduce noise levels In wastewater treatment facility

By Alan Eckel

Coney Island Water Pollution Control Project Noise Survey Engine Generator Room No. 2-02

n October 1995, rooms within an integrated

I wastewater and sludge treatment facility were

Figure 1 One Engine &

I

evaluated as to their noise problems. Based on

1 these studies, several rooms needed to be treat

Position

ed with Unit Sound Absorbing Panels.

Acoustical treatment to achieve maximum noise

reduction was calculated. Functional (unit) Sound Absorbing Panels were installed on the ceilings and walls of both rooms. Average noise level in the pump room was reduced to 85 decibels (dBA) and in the blower room to 82 dBA, bringing the rooms into OSHA compliance, and reducing reverberation

EG1

to levels that did not interfere with communication between workers.

Engine generator pnmp room In the generator room - a room, which is 87 feet

Two Engines & 4 Pumps Running

Before After

Before After

10/18/94 10/17/95

10/18/94 10/17/95

dBA

dBA

dBA

dBA

92.60

82.70

EG1A

93.00

85.80

EG2

93.10

83.30

EG2A

92.50

86.90

EG3

95.60

88.10

EG3A

94.60

88.10

EG4

90.70

80.70

EG4A

91.00

83.40

EG5

92.00

81.60

EG5A

90.10

82.70

EG6

91.10

80.90

EG6A

89.50

82.20

EG7

92.90

82.60

EG7A

93.00

86.00

EG8

92.60

81.90

Change EGBA 91.90

84.70

wide X 153 feet long x 41 feet high - for example, there are four sets of 2500 HP diesel engine genera tors, with multiple pumps available. They drive 600 HP motors, which operate the pumps. With the normal rurming mode one engine set is used to drive two or three pumps.

The typical overload is two engine sets to drive four pumps.

R.V. Anderson Associates Limited

3 Pumps Running

Average 92.58 82.73 -9.85

Change

91.95 84.98 -6.98

One of the other sets of engine generators is redundant, the other is reserve. Prior to installation of unit sound

absorbing panels, Eckel's Eckoustic Functional Panels, continued overleaf...

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 61

Noise Pollution ground noise was reduced from 92.5 dBA to 82.7 dBA after EFP treatment, a reduction of 9.85 dBA. With

Coney Island Water Pollution Control Project Noise Survey Blower Room No. 3-02

Two Blowers Running Position

Before

After

10/18/94

10/17/95

dBA

dBA

BR1

85.50

81.10

two sets of engine generators and four pumps running, average noise levels were reduced by 6.98 dBA, to bring the overall noise level below 85 dBA (see Figure

Figure 2

1).

Blower room

BR2

84.90

79.50

BR3

88.60

84.60

BR4

87.80

86.00

BR5

89.00

82.10

BR6

85.60

81.00

BR7

86.30

79.70

Average 86.61 86.65

Similar results were obtained for the blower room.

Here too, a mix of panel sizes was used - 30" x 10 ft., 30" X 8 ft., 30" X 4 ft., and 42" x 5 ft. - as the most

efficient means of achieving the desired noise reduc

(Near Field Condition)

tion. This room measured 53 ft. x 120 ft. x 25 ft.; 2,651 sq. ft. of panels was adequate for effective treatment.

With two blowers running, the average noise levels reduction with EFPs installed was over 5 dBA, from

82.00 -4.81 Ctiange 81.33

86.6 dBA to 81.3 dBA (see Figure 2).

Conclusions

-5.32 Ctiange W/0 BR4

EFPs, sound level measurements were taken at eight loca tions within the room at various distances from the engine generators. Acoustic treatment here involved a ceiling treat ment with 6,602 sq. ft.(50%) coverage and wall treatment with 2,069 sq. ft.(10%)coverage. For the ceiling treatment, three-quarters of the panels were 30" x 10 ft. EFPs; the remainder, 30" x 8 ft. On the walls, the panel sizes were 48" X 8 ft. and 24" x 6 ft.(All of these sizes are standard sizes.)

With one engine set and three pumps running, the back

Unit Sound Absorbing Panels offer several advan tages as a method of adding sound absorption to spaces with hard reflective surfaces. They can be installed in new or existing facilities without interference with util ities such as sprinklers, lighting, ventilation, etc. They

require little or no maintenance and are extremely effective in lowering background noise and reverberation in a wide variety of industrial and architectural applications.

Alan Eckel is President ofEckel Industries.

Contact e-mail: ae@eckelacoustic.com.

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••

Groundwater Remediation

Chemical

catalysts may neutralize

groundwater contaminants

Goldberg, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins. "In addition, our mol ecules have the potential to catalyze a number of other reactions important in the synthesis of specialty chemicals for industry."

In the biological world, enzymes are the catalysts which function inside

cells, and many enzymes depend on metal held inside specially built organ ic molecules called porphyrins. Using these as a model, Goldberg's team syn thesized a variation that changed the

der the groundwater pollutants called organohalides harmless by way of a simple chemical reaction.

"Organohalides can be transformed

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properties of the reactive metal in the center.

Called a "corrolazine", the new ring eontains one less atom than other, bet

ter-studied porphyrins. These mole cules are fascinating from a fundamen tal perspective, Goldberg said. The tiny change made in their structure imparts some very different properties than the same system found in nature, and may allow scientists to catalyze reactions in very different ways from their natural counterparts.

Everything from the manufac ture of new materials to the cre ation of modern medications

"By studying these natural mimics,

we can learn a great deal about why nature, actually evolution, made cer

tain choices in the design and develop ment of enzymes," Goldberg said.

relies on chemicals known as

Though some of the molecules

metal-based catalysts. Catalysts pack a double punch - even as they greatly increase the rate of chemical process es, they regenerate so they can be used again. Catalysts also can be designed to break or make powerful chemical

being investigated by Goldberg's team are important synthetic precursors that can ultimately be used in making spe cialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals, other recent work in the group, spear headed by graduate students Joseph

bonds at one end of a molecule while

Fox and David Capretto, has focused on how to use the new catalysts to ren

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September 2004, EnvironmentalScience & Engineering 65

Product and Service Showcase Reducing hydrogen sulflde from gas and air streams

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Tel: 905-868-9683, Fax: 905-868-

E-mail:

Web: www.johnmeunier.com.

9870, E-mail: ontario@johnmeunier. com, Web: www.johnmeunier.com.

John Meunier Inc.

John Meunier Inc.

ontario@johnmeunier.com,

Asbestos and mold abatement

New Pipe Pac version 3

Tri-Phase Environmental Inc.'s remedi

now available

al

service

since 1972. Tel: 905-624-9090, Fax:

Neo Valves

is

pleased

to

profes

sionals from all sectors now

that

has

it

seven

offices in North America.

All

consultants and industry/municipal offices requiring instrumentation or supplies for air and/or water projects can expect exceptional service and low rental and purchase rates. Call for pric ing information or to order your updat ed rental catalogue. Call toll free: 866688-0388, Fax: 905-795-0002, E-mail:

canada@pine-environmental.com. Web: www.pine-environmental.com.

Pine Environmental Services Inc.

Digital communication

is

used to help clients develop

!S

!■ the most appro

priate and costeffective remedial action plan; securing permits, ensuring site specific Health and Safety compliance, and providing expert remediation. Services include: • Asbestos removal/encapsulation of mechanical insulation systems, sprayed fireproofing and architectural finishes.

• Supply and install insulation/finishes.

• Decontamination

of

toxic

mold

amplification.

Tel: 905-823-7965, Fax: 905-823-7932, E-mail: sales@pcbdisposal.com, Web: www.pcbdisposal.com.

Tri-Phase Environmental Inc.

Auma's 2-wire digital communication keeps the customer in control.

Communication protocols such as Modbus, DeviceNet and Profibus are very complex and have been developed

Pipe Pac version 3, has arrived. For more information or to obtain a copy of the Pipe Pac version 3, contact the OCPA today. Tel: 905-631-9696, Fax: 905-631-1905, E-mail: mark.sabine@ ocpa.com, Web: www.ocpa.com.

by the best computer communication minds in the industry. They allow the exchange of information between devices in the field, e.g. actuators, sen sors and controls, as required for the automation of controlled processes.

Tel: 705-721-8247, Fax: 705-721-5851,

E-mail: troy-ontor@troy-ontor.ca.

Ontario Concrete Pipe Association

66 Environmental Science & Engineering, September 2004

Trov-Ontor Inc.

Product and Service Showcase Internal drop structure

Peristaltic pumps

The new internal drop is an industry friendly alter native to the physical and economical challenges the external drop con struction, installation and maintenance present. For your future work, insist on the internal drop struc

,

Ceramic filtration media

Sample/Zex peri staltic pumps by Metcon solve the

problem of find ing a low flow pump with good

suction lift capa bility. It can draw up to 6

www.ocpa.com.

metconeng.com.

Kinetico Canada Incorporated now offers its Macrolite, ceramic filtration media for the upgrading or improve ment of pressure and gravity filtration applications. Macrolite is engineered to exceed all industry standards and will out-perform any granular media prod uct. Call for details. Tel: 800-432-1166, Fax: 440-564-7696, E-mail: ews@ kinetico.com. Web: www.kinetico.com.

Ontario Concrete Pipe Association

Metcon Sales & Engineering

Kinetico Canada

ture to ensure a safe and

metres with flow

economical drop connec tion solution. See your local precast concrete producer today for more

rate

details

or contact the

OCPA for further information. Tel:

905-631-9696, Fax: 905-631-1905, Email: mark.sabine@ ocpa.com, Web:

of

900

mL/min. Sampled/ex features a run time meter, local or remote start stop, and automatic restart. It can be wall

mounted, making it an ideal supply pump to online analysers. Tel: 905738-2355, Fax: 905-738-5520, E-mail:

metcon@metconeng.com, Web: www.

Phoenix underdrain system

Phoenix panel system

Arsenic removal

We cover them all with the Phoenix

• Optimizes vertical and horizontal pressure filters • Low profile, filtered water pick-up

Panel System: • Upgrades and optimizes all types of filters

• Removal of existing underdrain not required • Eliminates a need for filter gravel • Improves backwash distribution • Longer filter runs and lower turbidity

lateral orifice is < 25 mm • Manufactured from corrosionresistant stainless steel

• Custom hydraulic distribution • Guaranteed uniform air scour distribution

Kinetico Canada Incorporated offers five distinct technologies for Arsenic removal. We will ensure you get the right technology for your application.

With all Kinetico process applications you get our superior process warranty.

Call for more information. Tel: 800-

effluent

Tel: 403-255-7377, Fax: 403-255-

432-1166, Fax: 440-564-7696, E-mail:

Tel: 403-255-7377, Fax: 403-2553129, E-mail: info@awifilter.com.

3129, E-mail: info@awifilter.com.

ews@kinetico.com. Web: www.kinetico.

Web: www.awifilter.com.

Web: www.awifilter.com.

com.

AWI Filter

AWI Filter

Kinetico Canada

Polymer-coated corrugated steel pipe to last 100 years

Pollution control

A*

Road salt and acid snow have intro

duced a changed Canadian environ ment and new challenges in culvert design and construc

tion. CSPl can

answer

these chal

lenges and many more.

To

learn

about polymer-coated corrugated steel pipe and other innovations, please drop us a line or visit our newly updated web site. Toll Free: 866-295-2416, Tel: 519-650-8080, Fax: 519-650-8081, Email: info@cspi.ca. Web: www. cspi.ca.

Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute

LexisNexis' LexisNexis Environmental is a webbased research tool created for environ

mental research that you can use to run targeted searches on a wide range of today's key environmental issues from a diverse collection of global environ mental-related information sources.

Tel:

905-479-2665, Fax:

905-479-

2826, E-mail: sales@lexisnexis.ca.

Web: www.lexisnexis.ca/ln/products/ environmental.

Flex-Kleen, a leading supplier of dust collectors for product recovery/pollu tion control, now offers new initiatives such as remote monitoring, alarming and control systems; on-site baghouse field services: lease-to-own programs; and the latest advance in dust collector

timing control, the Smart Timer 11. Tel: 630-775-0707, Fax: 630-875-3212, E-

mail: flex-kleen@met-pro.com, Web: www.flex-kleen.com.

LexisNexis Canada

Flex-Kleen Division, Met-Pro Corp.

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 67

Product and Service Showcase Concrete pipe design manual

PIPEPAC® software

Comstock Comstock Canada Ltd.

The Concrete Pipe Design Manual®

applications. Tel: 972-506-7216, Fax: 972-506-7682, E-mail: khunter@concretepipe.org. Web: www.concrete-pipe.org.

American Concrete Pipe Association

Widely used interactive software for selecting the right material for buried infrastructure systems. Determine the real cost of materials you specify over the design life of the project through three independent programs. Tel: 972506-7216, Fax: 972-506-7682, E-mail: khunter@concrete-pipe.org. Web: www. concrete-pipe.org.

American Concrete Pipe Association

Colorimetric nutrient sensor

Monitoring instruments

Version 1.4 is now available. A tool for

engineers who are responsible for selecting the type, size and strength requirements of pipe for the design and specification of precast concrete pipe for sanitary sewer, drainage and culvert

Danfoss

Analytical

introduces the world's first on-line colorimet ric nutrient sensor able to measure ammoni

um,

nitrate

or

orthophosphate. The three sensors look alike and share the

same widely approved """"

colorimetric

measur

ing principle. The EVITA® INSITU Nutrient Sensor is placed in the wastewater at the point where the concentra tion must be known. No external factors influence the measurements. Tel: 905-

829-2000, Fax: 905-829-2630, E-mail: bsmith@daviscontrols.com. Web: www.

I.?-!

has been providing general contractor, multi-trade and design/build construc tion services to the Canadian water and wastewater sectors for almost 100

years. Located in most major centres across Canada, Comstock will provide the solution to your needs. Tel: 905335-3333, Fax: 905-335-0304, E-mail: info@comstockcanada.com, Weh: www. comstockcanada.com.

Comstock Canada Ltd.

JetMix

Vortex Mixing System can be

Net Safety's combustible gas, toxic gas, flame and smoke detection equipment

used

is accurate and reliable. Gas

detection devices employ a frill range of technologies, including Infrared (IR), cat alytic bead, electromechanical and solid state sensors and these analog and smart digital sensors are complemented by multiple versions of microprocessor based transmitters and controllers. The

flame detectors meet the most rigorous requirements for fire detectors and use the latest in Ultraviolet, Infrared, UV/IR and Triple IR technologies. Tel: 905-829-2000, Fax: 905-829-2630, Email: bsmith@daviscontrols.com. Web:

in

bio-

solids storage where

solids

suspension is important. Benefits of using the JetMix system include: Intermittent operation saves 60-90% in power consumption; expensive tank cleanout and scheduled maintenance not required; easily installed in existing tanks; multiple tank mixing using a central pump house.

JetMix was a recipient of a 1997 Innovative Technology Award from the Water Environment Federation. Tel:

519-469-8169, Fax: 519-469-8157, E-

daviscontrols.com

www.daviscontrols.com.

mail: sales@greatarioengsys.com. Web: www.greatario.com.

Davis Controls

Davis Controls Ltd.

Greatario Engineered Storage Systems

Digital dosing Digital Metering uses a unique technology that allows a precise

Data logger Hoskin Scientific is now offering the HOBO U12 Stainless Temp Logger, a stainless steel, food-grade data logger designed for

measurement

with no calcula

tion nor any guesswork. What you see is what you get. It provides a reliable measurement on the easy to read digital display.

With the system, users have more con trol over water quality, which is a criti cal factor in many applications. Water Treatment Chemical and System Specialists will have an increased con trol over the additives administered.

Tel: 905-829-9533, Fax: 905-8299512, E-mail: alelarge@grundfos.com.

Web: www.grundfos.com.

Grundfos

Moving-bed bio-reactor Parkson's Geo-Reactor"' is an attached

growth, moving-hed bio-reactor. Its patented media supports biological growth, and its random movement aer ates the wastewater in unique ways.

The net result

food and bev

is

erage, phar maceutical, autoclave, and other indus

trial applications where high-accuracy temperature data is critical. The logger, which fits into a standard-sized bever

age bottleneck, measures and records temperatures from -40 to 125°C and can withstand process conditions from pasteurization to flash freezing and wash down. Tel: 604-872-7894, Fax: 604-872-0281,E-mail: salesv@hoskin.ca.

Web: www.hoskin.ca.

Hoskin Scientific

68 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

increased

DO, increased contact

time

of the mixed

liquor with the biology, thirmer and more active biofilm, and improved mixing in the tank. Geo-Reactors offer efficient BOD reduction and nitrification can

easily be accomplished. Tel: 514-6368712, Fax: 514-636-9718, E-mail: canada@parkson.com. Web: www. parkson.com.

Parkson

Product and Service Showcase Emergency gas shut-off system Eclipse Actuators quickly close

Remote monitoring systems

standard Chlorine

tions combine with its

and SO2 gas con

field-proven modular design to provide a flexible, reliable sys

tainer valves on

150 lb. cylinder

level transducer

and ton in less than one second when

tem

activated by remote sensors. These Halogen Valve System's electronic actuators are "close only devices" requiring an operator to visit the affect

demanding alarm monitoring applications. Verbatim's

ed site to determine the cause of the

problem. The operator can then correct the condition, check the facility, and then manually reset the valve before restarting the gas system. Tel: 949-2615030, Fax: 949-261-5033, E-mail: sales@halogenvalve.com. Web: www. halogenvalve.com.

Halogen Valve Systems

Bioscrubber system The Duall AroBIOS"' Bioscrubber

Submersible datalogging

Verbatim's powerful programmable func

that

meets The waterMONITOR is a submersible

tact channels and modularly expand able to 32 contact channels and up to 16 analog channels; programmable to automatically dial up to 16 different phone numbers each up to 60 digits long; allows the user to digitally record speech messages. Tel: 905-678-2882, Fax: 905-293-9774, E-mail: sales@ spdsales.com.

hydrostatic level transducer with embedded datalogging offering a high level of functionality and accuracy. Il meets the requirements of the USGS Office of Surface Water (OSW) accu racy specification for stage monitoring and combines a highly accurate pres sure sensor assembly with power con servative microcomputer circuitry. Tel: 905-678-2882, Fax: 905-293-9774, Email: sales@ spdsales.com.

SPD Sales

SPD Sales

features include: furnished with 4 con

Multi-Stage filter for small drinking water applications

Floating silt curtain

System is state-of-the-art biological air pollution control technology that effectively removes odors and gaseous contaminants such

as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other reduced sulfur compounds with out the use of expensive chemicals or costly incineration methods. AroBIOS provides the lowest Gas Retention Times; easy access, low profile design; non-degradeable AroPAC™ biomedia; easy to install, factory pre-assembly with mixed flow exhauster; no expen

The MS Filter is a solution to a small

tally safe by-products. Tel: 989-725-

system's water treatment needs that is simple and inexpensive to operate.

There are no pre-treatment chemicals, no membranes to replace, and yet treat ment performance equals or exceeds membrane or conventional processes.

The plant is ideal for serviced popula tions up to 2,000. Tel: 905-853-0164, Fax: 905-853-8807,E-mail: elew@msfilter.

8184, Web: www.dualldiv.com.

com. Web: www.msfilter.com.

Duall Division

MS Filter Inc.

sive chemical costs; and environmen

Stay ahead of the regulators with Layfield's Floating Silt Curtain (FSC).

It is designed to contain soil fines and other harmful particulates from enter ing aquatic environments during stream, river and shoreline construc tion. Layfield's FSC is: modular, in stock and custom sizes, cost-effective, light weight and easy to install. Tel: 604-448-2710, Fax: 604-275-7867, E-mail: emartin@layfieldgroup.com.

Web: www.geomembranes.com.

Layfield Geosynthetics

~1 Mixed liquor analyzer The Aysix Model 2000 Mixed Liquor

Asphalt joint sealing

from home

Analyzer is the new standard for DO & TSS measurement. Combining a Model

Wife

Findiay

10 DO sensor, using new fluo

THE UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY

rescence tech

nology to elim inate replace able

AVSiX

mem

branes or car

tridges, and a Series 15 infra

red TSS sensor,

the Aysix Model 2000 supplies accu rate aeration basin data. Tel: 800-595-

0514, Fax: 905-569-6244, E-mail:

info@aysix.com, Web: www.aysix. com.

Densoband is a polymer modified bitu men strip that has been widely utilized

The School of Environmental and

in the road maintenance and construc

Emergency Management

tion industry for over 30 years. It is used to form a flexible, waterproof seal between new hot asphalt and existing asphalt, concrete or steel. The sealed joint is unaffected by extremes in tem perature and stays in place to prevent water, road salt and pollutants from penetrating and cracking the asphalt.

Tel:416-291-3435, Fax: 416-291-0898, E-mail: blair@densona.com, Web:

• Online MS Degree in Environmental, Safety and Health Management • Online BS Degree Completion for

www.densona.com.

Cancoppas

Earn your ES&H degree

Dense North America

AA or AAS Graduates

• MS-level Certificate Programs in Emergency, Environmental, or Safety and Health Management Accredited by NCA Higher Learning Commission. Tel:

1-866-424-5747/

5316, Web: www.seem.fmdlay.edu.

University ol I indhn

I

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 69

-i

Environmental NEWS US chooses Canadian

ble microbial contamination.

membrane technology

The City's Conestoga Water Treatment Plant currently treats 12 MOD (45,420 mVd) and the Susquehanna Water Treatment Plant currently treats 24 MOD (90,840 mVd). In order to continue servicing its communities, both conventional plants will operate until the beginning of 2007 when the membrane plants will be set for completion.

The Authority of the Borough of

In the United States, new, more strin gent water treatment and disinfection rules are set to come into effect

January 2005 to improve control over microbial pathogens. The City of Lancaster and the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi undertook extensive evaluations comparing mem brane technology to conventional, par ticularly because they both had surface water as the source. Parasites such as

Cryptosporidium and Giardia are quite common in surface water and Crypto sporidium is also highly resistant to chemical disinfectants.

The two plants for the City of Lancaster were aging and needed sig nificant upgrades. After an aggressive piloting program with different tech nologies, they chose ZENON mem branes to relieve concerns with respect to water quality compliance and to protect their residents from any possi

Charleroi had similar concerns in

meeting future water quality regula tions with their existing conventional water treatment plant. After pilot test ing pressure membranes vs. vacuum driven membranes,ZENON's UP (vac uum driven) membranes were selected.

City of Red Deer brings new clarlfiers onstream

Two new clarlfiers have been brought into production at the City of Red Deer Water Treatment Plant. These two units

will be capable of producing more than 120 million litres of clarified water per day, an increase of 80 percent in capac ity from the old clarlfiers.

In July 2003, the City began con structing the clarification system, sup plied by John Meunier Inc. of Montreal. This new system uses sandballasted floe technology to improve water clarity and increase treatment capacity. These clarlfiers were entirely built inside one of the old clarlfiers, therefore eliminating the need for a costly building expansion. They allow the City to increase the amount of water it can treat in order to serve Red

Deer's growing population and prepare for future growth and regional needs.

The upgrade will also help further enhance water quality, which already meets Alberta Environment Standards

and

Canadian

Drinking

Water

Guidelines.

The City of Red Deer is located in the heart of Alberta's beautiful park land and midway between the two

Literature Review For information on advertising in this section caii ES&E at (905) 727-4666 New pipe design manual The 13th edition of the Concrete Pipe Design Manuai for engineers who seiect the type, size and strength requirements of concrete pipe, is now

Engineering Guide now available!

The CON/SPAN Engineering Guide is a valuable tool with ail the necessary information

avaiiabie from the American Concrete

Pipe Association. The updated manu ai provides the most current technicai data and design aids needed to assist engineers in preparing efficient and cost-effective drainage soiutions for sanitary sewer, storm drain and cul vert applications. Tei: 972-506-7216, Fax: 972-506-7682, E-maii: info@con crete-pipe.org. Web: www. concretepipe.org

R SEilABIE ]D

SI EET PILING

engineaiing guide

to

consider

the

CON/SPAN System for many different design applications. Filled with numerous figures and charts, the Engineering Guide provides a refer ence of design parameters, standard detail illustrations, and limited design methodologies. Avaiiabie in binder or CD Rom format. Tei: 800-668-7473, Fax: 519-763-1982, E-maii: salesÂŽ concastpipe.com. Web: www.concast pipe.com

ACPA

CON/SPAN Canada

Controlling contaminated groundwater

Canadian Brownfields Manual

Waterloo Barrier is a low permeability cutoff wall for groundwater contain ment and control, it is a new design of steel sheet piling featuring joints that

Thu

Editors: Ahab Abdel-Aziz, LL.B. and Nathalie Chaiifour, J.S.M.

Canadian Brownfields

This new Butterworths publication

can be sealed after the sheets have

Manual

been driven into the ground and was developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo. It has patent/ patent pending status in several coun tries. Canadian Metal Roiling Mills assisted in developing the product.

Tei: 519-856-1352, Fax: 519-856-

examines the barriers that have tradi

tionally blocked redevelopment, and

shows how emerging legislation and new programs are making redevelop ment both possible and profitable.

For more information please visit the Butterworths Bookstore at www.iexis

nexis.ca or caii 1-800-668-6481.

0759, E-maii: info@waterioo-barrier. com. Web: www.waterioo-barrier.com Waterloo Barrier Inc.

70 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

LexisNexis Canada

Environmental NEWS major cities of Calgary and Edmonton.

The City of Red Deer has a population of 76,000.

The Red Deer water treatment plant draws water from the Red Deer River.

Because of high turbidity and organics

in the river water during times of spring run-off, the City was sometimes forced to reduce capacity to preserve drinking water quality.

Ontario Clean Air Alliance

criticizes report on nuclear performance The Ontario Clean Air Alliance has

criticized Murray Elston of the

a stop-gap measure.

"Pouring more money into unreli able nuclear technology will not help Ontario clear the air. Energy conserva tion, water-power, wind-power, biomass and high-efficiency natural gas-

■Aaua/Szsf

CORP.

fired power plants are Ontario's low est-cost and lowest-risk options to phase-out our dirty coal-fired power plants," said the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

Contact: info@cleanair.web.ca.

A

77 ORCHARD ROAD

AJAX, ONTARIO L1S6K9

TEL: (905) 619-3009 FAX: (905) 619-3638

High Pressure Water Jetting tlna Liquid/Dry Vacuum Services Waste Water Treatment

Sponge Jet Cleaning

Canadian Nuclear Association who

had painted a rosy picture of the per BAYCOR FIBRE TECH INC

formance of Ontario's nuclear reactors.

OCAA says Mr. Elston did this by art fully cropping his statistics to exclude at least five (and possibly eight) of

The Best

Ontario's shutdown nuclear units from

Screen In The

his calculation of the nuclear system's average capacity factor for 2003.

This is something like a delivery company claiming that its fleet was 78% reliable last year by not counting the five trucks under repair or perma nently parked in its garage.

"In fact, Ontario's nuclear system posted an abysmal 53% capacity factor

World Is A

in 2003 when all nuclear units are

included in the capacity calculation.

According to the International Energy Agency, Canada's nuclear reactors actually had the worst capacity utiliza tion rates amongst all of the Organization for Economic Cooperat ion and Development (OECD) coun tries between 1990 and 2002," says OCAA. "Mr. Elston may not want to count shutdown nuclear plants that Ontario power consumers and taxpay ers have poured billions of dollars into building and repairing, but these shut down units have had a direct impact on Ontario's air quality by requiring the province to turn to dirty coal power as —

FILTER MEDIA

'

—

ANTHRACITE

^

QUALITY FILTER SAND & GRAVEL CARBON - GARNET - ILMENITE REMOVAL & INSTALLATION

nthrafilter Media & Coal Ltd.

V

TEL: (519) 751-1080 FAX: (519) 751-0617

Fax: (519) 751-7712 info@baycorfibre.com www.baycorfibre.com Finb Screening and

Baycor Screen

Sludge Thickening Specialists

VENT-O-MAT "A nti-SurgelA nti-ShoclY'

O^ctopus floating fine bubbie systems

Blo^Bloc fine bubbie fixed-film bio-reactors

10-year warranty

Air ReleaseA/acuum Break Valves

for ideal cold

for Sewage & Water

nitrification+

HYDRO-LOGIC ENVIRONMENTAL 762 Upper James St., Suite 250 Hamilton, Ontario L9C 3A2 Fax: 905-777-8678

Phone: 905-777-9494

info@hydrologic.ca

www.hydroiogic.ca

FBC

Package Since 1950

NAPIER-REID LTD. 10-2 Alden Road

Markham, Ontario L3R 2S1

Water / Wastewater Treatment Plants

Tel: 905-475-1545 • Fax: 905-475-2021

www.napier-reid.com

Digester Cleaning,Dewatering,Dredging, Disposal Complete Services

^^^Trifflax Residuals

4

20 SHARP ROAD. BRANTFORD, ONTARIO N3T5La

2

576 Elgin St., Unit D Brantford, Ontario Tel: (519)751-7787

an American Water Services'company

J

800-465-21 15 www.trimaxenv.com | www.americanwaterservlces.com

September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 71

Environmental Science & Engineering Introduce your new staff to the industry!

ES&E reaches over 19,000 water, wastewater and environmental protection professionais across Canada.

Call us at:(905) 727-4666 for special rates

Ainley

Four decades of excellence in infrastructure planning Et engineering

CONSULTING ENGINEERS

PLANNERS

Environmental NEWS

Thunder Bay upgrades water treatment systems The City of Thunder Bay, Ontario will be building a new drinking water plant that will treat 30 million gallons (MOD) of water per day, or 113,550 mVday.

Thunder Bay, the largest city in North Western Ontario, had a wake up call in 1997 when part of the City (Thunder Bay South) was placed under a 'boil water' advisory as a result of Giardia contamination in the drinking water supply (from Loch Lomond, an inland lake). ZENON quickly built and delivered an interim membrane based

BARRIE

BELLEVILLE

COLLINGWOOD

(705)726-3371 (613)966-4243 (705)445-3451

OTTAWA

(613)822-1052

Creattng eaiallty SoIuUons Together

R.V. Anderson Associates Limited environment * infrastructure

tel 416 497 8600 web www.rvanderson.com

toronto welland Ottawa sudbury iondon moncton fredericton chiarlottetown bombay

engineering • operations • management

water treatment plant treating approxi mately 10 MGD (37,850 mVday).

Currently, the City operates two drink ing water plants - one using mem branes (Loch Lomond) and the other (Bare Point) using conventional direct filtration technology.

By the end of 2005, the City of Thunder Bay will have built the second largest ZENON membrane filtration plant in the province, which will even tually replace the two existing plants for this community of 100,000 + peo ple.

FTS monitors the

C.C. TATHAM & ASSOCIATES LTD.

weather In Mexico

CONSULTING ENGINEERS - SITE PLANNERS - LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Specialists in a comprehensive range of Environmental and Municipal Engineering Collingwood Tel.(705)444-2565

Bracebridge

Orillia Tel.(705) 325-1753

EMail: lnfo@cctatham.coni

Tel.(705) 645-7755 Web: www.cctatham.com

In 1992, the Government of Mexico implemented the Water Resources Management Project (PROMMA), a

large-scale program funded by the World Bank, aimed at dealing with the country's serious water shortage.

Among the many firms that have vied

for a piece of this multi-faceted proj Get a clear view of:

CLEARVIEW Geophysics Inc.

' UST's, buried metal, debris & fill

ect, British Columbia's FTS Forest

Technology Systems has been selected three times in a row to provide its auto

' Former excavations & structures

mated weather stations for Mexico's

"Specialists in non-intrusive ground investigations"

' Leachate plumes

Tei: 905.458.1883

' Voids and fractures

new Hydrological Information System, a key component of PROM

Fax: 905.792.1884

' Stratigraphy

MA.

E-maii: clearview@geophysics.ca Web: www.geophysics.ca

' Pipes and utilities

Clunas Environmental Consulting updating of municipal sewer use bylaws compliance with regulations/ sewer use bylaws sampling

spill management plans

• policy and program development

ISO 14000

• hauled sewage programs

stormwater assessment

• industrial wastewater

pollution prevention plans NPRI submissions

assessment • MOB C of As

15 Robert St., Weston, ON M9N 2J6 •Tel:(416) 414-7656 • Fax:(416) 245-1986 • E-maii: david.ciunas@rogers.com

72 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

Climate change in Mexico has put significant pressure on watersheds, river basins and wetlands, and is expected to lead to widespread defi ciencies in water availability and qual ity. In order to minimize the impact of these effects, hundreds of sub-projects have been put in place under PROM MA in areas such as meteorology, hydraulic infrastructure, telecommuni cations and water resources planning.

Among these is the establishment of a

Environmental NEWS

30 YEARS DREDGING

Consolidated

HIGH SPEED CENTRIFUGES HIGH VOLUME PUMPING-HDPE PIPE

Hydrological Information System, entailing the creation of a nationwide

(New)- Geo Tube dewaterlng

network of weather stations to monitor

Competent and Complete Services

and predict a range of meteorological activity, including phenomena such as the

El

Nino/Southern

Oscillation

(ENSO) cycle. The number of these

Lagoons, Digesters, Ponds, Lakes, Marinas, Waste Reduction,

Giroux

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satellite-based stations is expected to

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V

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 73

Environmental NEWS Geama1:rix Consultants Engineers, Geologists,and Environmental Scientists

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15 year olds, reveal unexpected results: similar cavity rates whether the children drank fluoridated water or

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is the main non-fluoridated (non-publie) water source for 37% of South Australians; 8% drink bottled water.

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The American Dental Association

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asserts that fluoridation provides 1535% cavity reductions in 14 tol7 year olds; South Australian adolescents

averaged less than one-and-a-half decayed, missing or filled permanent tooth surfaces, whether they drank fluoridated water or not. Actually,

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ity rates in primary or baby teeth.

However, no decay data was included for 1-4 year olds, the children with the most baby teeth. Within the studied group (5,100 5 to 9 year olds) some had already shed primary teeth, some perhaps decayed. This places doubt on the validity of the conclusion that fluoridated

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74 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

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water

decreased primary-tooth cavities in this population sample.

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Environmental NEWS fluoridating their water supplies; but the poor, malnourished or less educat ed still get the most cavities and the least dental care," says lawyer Paul

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iro

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to 11 locations

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Six

Canadian

Tire

locations

in

Winnipeg will be added to the list of collection depots throughout Manitoba where the public can take used oil, oil filters and containers, Conservation

Marshall Macklin

Monaghan

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recently.

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the Manitoba Association for Resource

Recovery Corp. (MARRC) and Canadian Tire for opening the new depots."

The six Canadian Tire outlets join 64 other government licensed collec tion depots including Garden City Wal-Mart, A-1 Environmental Services, Miller Environmental Corp., WRS Environmental and Enviro West

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"Every drop counts in the effort to properly dispose of used oil products," said Struthers. "One litre of oil ean contaminate one million litres of fresh

water, so correct handling of waste oil materials is essential."

MARRC is a non-profit corpora tion established in 1997 by manufac turers and marketers of lubricating

products in Manitoba. It develops, implements and administers a cost-

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 75

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claims over tens of thousands of miles

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Krauss reports in The New York Times.

team issues compliance orders to petrochemical facilities Ontario Ministry

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twelve petrochemical facilities in the Sarnia area to come into compliance with Ontario's environmental laws.

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76 Environmental Science & Engineering, September 2004

its inspection sweep of petrochemical facilities.

Lanxess Inc. (formerly Bayer Inc.; three facilities), Bayer Inc. (formerly H.C. Starck Canada), Fibrex Insulations Inc., ICI Canada Inc., Praxair Canada Inc. (two facilities), Entropex Corporation, Ethyl Canada Inc., Suncor Energy Products Inc., and Shell Canada Products Ltd. received

Provincial Officer Orders September 1 following inspections conducted over four months. The orders detail what

actions each company must take to come into compliance and the timeframes in which they must do so.

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September 2004, Environmental Science & Engineering 77

Environmental NEWS

Danish and American wetlands experts awarded Stockholm Water Prize

Professors Sven Erik Jorgensen, Denmark, and William J. Mitsch, USA, received the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize from

HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden during a Royal Banquet and Ceremony in the Stockholm City Hall, August 19.

Professor Jorgensen, 69, is a professor of environmental chemistry at the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Copenhagen.

Professor Mitsch, 56, is a professor of natural resources and environ mental science and director of the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Their theoretical and applied work on lake and wetland ecosystems, management of lake and wetland water quality, and lake, river and wetland conservation, restoration and usage, has been acknowledged and implemented in both developing and developed countries.

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Contact; www.siwi.org.

East Coast invention fixes

environmental problem There are more than 100,000 domestic

septic systems in Nova Scotia. Almost all of them use a network of pipes in a soil bed to disperse treated effluent (sewage or waste). If the dispersal pipes are not completely level, one side of the disposal bed can become overloaded and fail. The failure creates environmental and health risks and the

repair is expensive.

Ken Burrows, a Wellington, N.S. environmental consultant, has come up

From left: Professor William J. Mitsch, USA, and Professor Sven Erik Jorgensen, Denmark, with HM King Carl XVi Gustaf of Sweden. Photo; Fredrik Hessman, Exray,forSIWI

ability to apply science to real-world environmental management problems

restaurants, and provide the backdrop for many film productions and cultural

means we'll have more successes in

events.

the future."

New regulation will allow more brownfield sites to

be redeveloped The Ontario government is promoting clean, safe communities through a new regulation that will help revitalize brownfield sites, Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky and Municipal Affairs and Housing

with a solution - a flow balancer. The

Minister John Gerretsen announced

device forces the effluent flow into two

recently while visiting Toronto's Distillery District, a former brownfield

equal streams. This ensures that the effluent is evenly distributed through the disposal bed. The balanced flow means that the work of filtering the effluent is spread evenly across the dis posal bed.

Mr. Burrows took his idea to the environmental innovations branch at

the Department of Environment and Labour. "The department put me in touch with Mysore Satish with Dalhousie University's faculty of engi neering," said Mr. Burrows."Together, we finalized and tested the design."

"The concept is simple, but we needed experimental results to demonstrate its effectiveness to regula tors," said Dr. Satish. The developers have applied for a patent and are dis cussing manufacturing plans.

"This invention is the latest in a

series of successes we've had working with the engineering faculty at Dalhousie," said Mr. Morash. "Their

site.

The new regulation removes a bar rier to redeveloping brownfields. Until now, there has been a lack of clarity around brownfield property owners' environmental liability. This regulation sets out the conditions that property owners must meet in order to receive

protection from environmental orders following site clean up.The regulation, which comes into effect on October 1, 2004, details:

Grimsby fined $1,500 for operator violations The Town of Grimsby, Ontario, has been fined $1,500, plus a victim fine surcharge, after pleading guilty to one count of non-compliance with the Ontario

Water

Resources

Act

(OWRA).

Grimsby owns and operates the water distribution system and the Town is authorized, through a Certificate of Approval issued by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), to operate the water distribution system. The court heard that in March, 2003, a routine inspection by MOE revealed that one of the Town's water operators was not properly certified. An investigation confirmed that between January and November, 2002, the Town failed to ensure that all of its operators held licenses relevant to the facility's opera tions.

• The soil and groundwater standards

By failing to ensure that every oper ator holds a license that is applicable to the town's facility, the Corporation of the Town of Grimsby contravened Section 14(1) of Ontario Regulation

that must be met.

435/93 made under the OWRA. The

• The qualifications for individuals who oversee site clean up and certify that the site meets the appropriate stan

Town pleaded guilty to the single

• Requirements for conducting site assessments.

dards.

The Distillery District is a former industrial site, where heritage build ings now house shops, art galleries and

78 Environmental Science & Engineering,September 2004

breach, and was fined $1,500 and

given 30 days to pay.

Justice of the Peace, Carollyn Straughan, accepted the guilty plea and fined the company on August 20, 2004 in St. Catharines.

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No Membranes, No Problem Breakthrough --

1^,

Luminescent Technology

ClearTech,

Dissolved Oxygen Hach LDO™ Probe and Meters Save time and money with unmatched performance, ease of use and ruggedness.

New Industry Standard of Performance

• No membranes to clean or replace • Reduced maintenance

• No calibration for one year

• No polarization time (no electrodes) • No poisoning from H^S, heavy metals and other wastewater chemicals

• Three-year probe warranty • Now available in portable and on-line models

ClearTech

Vancouver • Edmonton • Calgary • Saskatoon • Regina • Winnipeg • Mississauga

1 -800-387-7503

www.cleartech.ca