Industry News
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Upcoming Events
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OGRA/ROMA Combined Conference
February 21-24, 2016
Toronto, Ontario
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Waterline - Winter 2016 Edition
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New Regional Hubs aim to offer complete infrastructure solutions for Ontario communities
 How quickly can your community diagnose, procure and tender major repairs and system upgrades at a water or wastewater treatment plant? If you're like many municipalities, external resources are often required to complete the task, a costly and time-consuming process to select contractors and then stand by as they examine the problems and evaluate infrastructure solutions.
Recent changes to OCWA's regional structure will make it faster and easier for municipalities to get help and implement solutions for infrastructure challenges. The realignment introduces 10 regional hubs in the province, each led by a Regional Hub Manager who is focused on providing municipalities with frontline technical expertise to assess and overcome any issue related to water, wastewater and stormwater.
 "OCWA teams live and work in the communities that they serve and have acquired in-depth knowledge of municipal treatment plants and the challenges they face," says Rob Andrews, President and CEO, OCWA. "Our new Regional Hub Managers are highly skilled technical experts that can leverage this knowledge to quickly and competently address municipal infrastructure project delivery. This is a major asset to communities that aren't able to employ or retain city engineers and don't have immediate access to such expertise."
This approach also enhances OCWA's ability to deliver a complete range of solutions to Ontario municipalities that include operations, maintenance, financing and capital projects, such as capacity increases, process upgrades and improvements in energy efficiency.
"OCWA's trusted and talented experts are ready to form long-term partnerships and expand our role as a valuable resource in municipal infrastructure planning and operations," Rob says. "Our goal is to provide the most efficient and cost-effective path for communities to build and maintain resilient infrastructure that protects the health and safety of drinking water, minimizes the environmental impact of wastewater effluent and can adequately handle stormwater."
OCWA currently services approximately 160 municipalities in Ontario.
Contact a Regional Hub Manager for experienced, technical assistance with your infrastructure challenges.
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 6 tips to optimize cold-weather wastewater treatment  Loss of nitrification, poor floc formation and freezing are just a few of the challenges that wastewater treatment plants face during the cold winter months. "Experience, preparation and careful record keeping are critical factors to ensure consistent compliance with discharge standards and avoiding
unplanned outages," says Jim Nardi, OCWA Wastewater Systems Manager - South Peel Facilities.
"If operators don't have sufficient experience and in-depth understanding of their plants, cold weather will likely cause some issues for them," he says. Regardless of plant's size, treatment process or wastewater characteristics, Jim says there are several best practices that OCWA operators consistently employ to maximize the efficiency of their plants and achieve trouble-free operation over the winter.
1) Maintain detailed operational records. Collect and archive all data in a searchable, electronic
format that can be accessed easily-especially in a crisis situation. All OCWA facilities collect process data, troubleshooting strategies, process control narratives, and more, which helps operators use plant history and their combined experiences to optimize treatment control during tough winter conditions.
2) Increase your mixed liquor concentrations slowly in preparation for cold weather, have additional supplies on hand.
3) Select and maintain a vendor of record that can be quickly mobilized to assist with emergency situations such as line breaks or pump failures.
4) Assign an Overall Responsible Operator to ensure that a highly trained and experienced operator is available at all times to respond to an emergency.
5) Develop a strong peer network that offers a broad range of operational know-how and can help diagnose and resolve situations that are beyond your expertise.
6) Be ready for spring. "Most operators aren't worried about the coldest days of the year," Jim says. "It's the warm days that follow-when frozen pipes thaw and leaks start." Detailed knowledge of your plant can help you predict and cope with spring surprises.
Contact us to learn how OCWA's team of 450+ certified operators can help overcome cold-weather treatment challenges at your wastewater or water facility. Learn more about OCWA services
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Save the Date!
3rd Annual Hands-On Wastewater Training Ontario (HOWW TO)
June 14/15, 2016 - Save the Date
Location: Wasaga Beach, Ontario
Facilitated by industry experts, OCWA presents six courses presented over two-days, resulting in 12 hours of hands-on, practical training. All this, along with great food and the opportunity to meet others in the operations community, for the low cost of $449.
For early registration please contact Neneeka Taylor at 905-274-6710 x5268.
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OCWA Offers Energy Savings to Town of St. Marys
OCWA and Festival Hydro provided an incentive check to the Town of St. Marys for verified energy savings as a result of energy efficiency project.
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In picture from left to right: Indra Maharjan (OCWA), Mary Steel (Festival Hydro), Mayor Al Strathdee
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Project Details: Stratford Hub Replacement of existing PD blowers with high efficiency turbo blowers and DO control Project Cost: $190,760 Estimated Incentive: $23,700 Actual Incentive: $30,342 Estimated Annual Energy Cost Savings: $28,440 Actual Annual Energy Cost Savings: $42,478 Estimated Pay Back: 5.7 years Actual Pay Back: 3.5 years
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OCWA In The Community
Teachers and students applaud OCWA OneWater™ Education Program for fostering water awareness and stewardship
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OCWA engages students through their OneWater program in classes across Ontario.
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OCWA's OneWater Education Program has now rolled out in 16 client communities across Ontario! This Program, aligned primarily with the Provincial curriculum for grade 8 science and technology, teaches students about how water and wastewater is treated in their local community, the value of water and how to be good environmental stewards.
By the end of the 2015/2016 school year, approximately 1000 students will have participated in this Program.
And is the Program accomplishing what is was set out to do? Since launching the pilots last year, the feedback from teachers and students has been extremely positive. A survey conducted by the teachers in 2015-2016 had 89% of students indicating they felt they knew more about their local water system and how it works than they did before going through OneWater. As well, 82% of the students said they were better informed about what should and should not be put down the toilets or drains after their classroom visit by the OCWA Operator. "Since participating in OneWater, I have a larger appreciation for my water to be clean and useable," wrote one student from St. Philip Catholic School in Petrolia, Ontario, after participating in the OneWater pilot with their grade 8 classroom.
For OCWA Operators, the Program provides an opportunity to get into their local communities and share their extensive water knowledge with - as one operator put it - "the future water keepers." For OCWA Operations Manager, Brad Hoover, who works at the Wasaga Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant, and has now gone into one of his local classrooms several times to talk about water treatment and to conduct activities, the education Program provides him the ability to combine his passion of water and the environment with his love for training. "It was great being able to inform the next generation. Information is power and I believe we can make a lasting impact on how students view water and wastewater." 
As the OCWA OneWater Education Program continues to expand to client communities across Ontario, OCWA has created a companion module that focuses on the impact of Climate Change on the Great Lakes. "The Changing Great Lakes" empowers youth to take the lead in adaptation strategies that need to be implemented for the safety, security and sustainability of the Great Lakes and their surrounding communities.
As for OneWater, OCWA hopes to continue working in partnership with its client communities to bring this Program to as many students as possible in the coming years.
"OCWA's OneWater Education Program is a flagship initiative for our Agency," says Robin Kind, Executive Sponsor, Corporate Social Responsibility, OCWA. "We see water literacy as an important way to support the health and sustainability of our communities. By providing good water use habits to students, we are in effect, changing overall community behaviour. Teenagers are extremely influential members of their household and if we can reach them at this stage, we are ultimately helping contribute to a cleaner, safer environment for the future."
For further information on the OCWA OneWater Education Program or The Changing Great Lakes, please contact Amy Lane, Marketing and Community Outreach Specialist, Ontario Clean Water Agency at alane@ocwa.com.
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