Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Another water treatment plant has been hacked over its use of Israel-made equipment. It happened last week in an east coast area of Ireland called Erris. About 180 residences were without water for two days when the hackers got past the systems’ firewall and shut a small utility. Last week I reported that a hacking group believed to be from Iran called CyberAv3ngers is going after utilities using equipment from Israeli companies.
A troubled water utility company in the United Kingdom that counts two of Canada’s biggest public pensions as large shareholders is facing regulatory scrutiny and fines for sewage leaks and could require a financial bailout. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) own 31.8 per cent and and 8.7 per cent of Thames Water, respectively. Analysts at DBRS Morningstar said in a July 5 report that OMERS and BCI are expected to weather the storm with minimal financial damage given their size, diversification and long-term performance — even if Thames Water were to collapse — but there is reputational risk for the Canadian pensions, which could affect future investment opportunities.
New Jersey’s Canoe Brook Water Treatment plant produces 14 millions gallons of drinking water a day. Each one of those gallons weighs around 8 pounds , so it’s quickly apparent that a large amount of energy is needed to move water from a reservoir to the treatment plant and into the 84,000 homes and businesses that the New Jersey American Water Company serves in the area. So the water utility partnered with NJR Clean Energy Ventures, the renewable energy subsidiary of the natural gas firm New Jersey Resources, for a solution. NJR Clean Energy Ventures built a vast array of solar panels, linked them together, and placed them on the surface of the water at Canoe Brook Reservoir.
This research study discusses the impact of the pandemic on the water and wastewater industry in the United States and Canada, examining the measures being taken by utilities to deal with the same. It identifies the key trends emerging in the industry and the top utilities to watch out for. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of having up-to-date water and wastewater systems and infrastructures that can provide agile responses. Municipalities and industries across North America have begun adopting net-zero, decarbonization, and circularity goals to become sustainable, resilient, and future ready.
The "Canada and US Water and Wastewater Outlook, 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This research study discusses the impact of the pandemic on the water and wastewater industry in the United States and Canada, examining the measures being taken by utilities to deal with the same. It identifies the key trends emerging in the industry and the top utilities to watch out for.
Drinking water quality remains a persistent challenge across regional and remote Australia. We reviewed public reporting by 177 utilities and conducted a national assessment of reported exceedances against the health-based and aesthetic guideline values of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG). Four definitions of a basic level of drinking water quality were tested to quantify service gaps across regional and remote areas of each subnational jurisdiction in 2018–2019. At least 25,245 people across 99 locations with populations <1000 reportedly accessed water services that did not comply with health-based guideline values. Including larger towns and water systems, the estimated service gap rises to at least 194,572 people across more than 115 locations. Considering health parameters and the ADWG definition of ‘good’ aesthetic characteristics, the reported service gap rises further to at least 627,736 people across 408 locations.
