EDITORIAL COMMENT BY STEVE DAVEY
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER STEVE DAVEY steve@esemag.com MANAGING EDITOR PETER DAVEY peter@esemag.com SALES DIRECTOR PENNY DAVEY penny@esemag.com SALES REPRESENTATIVE DENISE SIMPSON denise@esemag.com ACCOUNTING SANDRA DAVEY sandra@esemag.com CIRCULATION MANAGER DARLANN PASSFIELD darlann@esemag.com DESIGN & PRODUCTION MIGUEL AGAWIN production@esemag.com
TECHNICAL ADVISORY BOARD Archis Ambulkar, Jones and Henry Engineers, Ltd. Gary Burrows, City of London Jim Bishop, Consulting Chemist, Ontario Patrick Coleman, Black & Veatch Bill De Angelis, City of Toronto Mohammed Elenany, Urban Systems William Fernandes, City of Toronto Marie Meunier, John Meunier Inc., Québec Tony Petrucci, Stantec, Markham
Environmental Science & Engineering is a bi-monthly business publication of Environmental Science & Engineering Publications Inc. An all Canadian publication, 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. ES&E cannot be responsible for the accuracy of articles or other editorial matter. Articles in this magazine are intended to provide information rather than give legal or other professional advice. Articles being submitted for review should be emailed to steve@esemag.com. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Second Class Mail Product Agreement No. 40065446 Registration No. 7750 Undeliverable copies, advertising space orders, copy, artwork, proofs, etc., should be sent to: Environmental Science & Engineering 220 Industrial Pkwy. S., Unit 30 Aurora, Ontario L4G 3V6 Tel: (905)727-4666 Website: www.esemag.com
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million a year on bottled drinking water?” The bottled water issue seems to have grown increasingly contentious. In recent years, when parts of Ontario and British Columbia were under drought conditions, news that Nestlé was pumping millions of litres of water per day for next to nothing prompted outrage and boycotts from activist groups, such as the Council of Canadians. In 2016, the Government of Ontario announced a moratorium on new and expanded water takings by bottlers and raised prices on August 1, 2017, from $3.71 for every million litres of groundwater taken to $503.71. Yet since 1988, bottled water consumption has ballooned in Canada, with sales reaching $2.5 billion (2.5 billion litres) in 2016, according to Euromonitor International. Minister McMillan: “Canadians are willing to pay $18,000 for a cubic metre of whiskey and $800 for the same amount of cola. And yet they have never been asked to pay more than 50 cents for a cubic metre of pure water… Unless we put in place a more realistic pricing policy, the country will have neither the funds to deliver pure water to Canadians nor the incentive to ensure it remains available for future generations.” Currently, a cubic metre of Seagram V.O. whiskey from Ontario’s liquor stores (LCBO) would cost about $32,500, not far from double the price 30 years ago. Interestingly, cola has appreciated relatively moderately, with a cubic metre of cola costing about $860 at Walmart. A cubic metre of water in Aurora, Ontario, where ES&E is based, costs $2.29. This is roughly 50% higher than the 2011 average of $1.50 and 450% the price in 1988. (Note: If you happen to purchase cola and liquor by the cubic metre, please let ES&E know the bulk price you pay and we’ll update our numbers accordingly.) As more municipalities recognize the need for full cost recovery to pay the true cost to operate and maintain their water systems, we can expect water rates to continue to rise. WASTEWATER TREATMENT Minister McMillan: “East of Ontario, only 10% of wastewater is treated; in all,
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a third of the Canadian population (8 million people) live in municipalities that do not treat their sewage.” According to Statistics Canada, in 2006, Canadian municipalities generated a daily average of 668 litres of wastewater per person. Of Canadians served by sanitary wastewater collection systems, wastewater was treated at the secondary level, or better, for 79% of the population. Almost 2% were not served by wastewater treatment facilities at all. In 2009, 82% of Canadians lived in dwellings connected to municipal sewer systems, while 13% used private septic systems and 1% used communal septic systems. INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS Minister McMillan: “It will cost $3 billion over the next five years to repair aging underground pipes alone.” Progress on the infrastructure deficit has not been positive. According to the 2016 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, target average annual reinvestment in linear assets (pipes) for potable water is 1% – 1.5%, yet the actual rate of 0.9% falls short. Survey results from jurisdictions accounting for 19 million residents showed the replacement value of wastewater assets in poor or very poor condition is $26 billion. The replacement value of potable water assets in poor or very poor condition is $25 billion. Mr. McMillan held political office for several years after serving as Environment Minister. In 2017, he wrote a book entitled Not My Party: The Rise and Fall of Canadian Tories from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper, based on his experiences and studies. It was an honour to have published his opinions in our inaugural issue and to this day we are grateful he gave us much needed support when we first started. If you have suggestions on what we should revisit in our coming issues, please let us know. Steve Davey is editor and publisher of ES&E Magazine. Email: steve@esemag.com
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