This is my overriding concern in all of the advocacy work we do.  How do we address all the challenges, in an open and transparent way, while maintaining public trust in their local tap water?  We exist as a professional association to share knowledge and to tackle challenges together, through science, engineering and common sense.  We rarely have all the data, all the information or all the answers, but we MUST still discuss these matters that ‘could’ threaten the ‘safety’ of the tap water we are providing to our customers.  Even that word ‘safe’ water is up for debate!?!? 

CWWA & MESUG (Municipal Enforcement Sewer Use Group) need your help to address the challenges we all face with ‘so-called’ flushable wipes.  So many products are being inappropriately labeled as ‘flushable’, but these products don’t break down – they cause very expensive damage to our systems and cause dangerous clogs and overflows.

It’s time to start planning your conference participation, and we want to make sure that the NWWC 2024 is on your list. Whether you attend as a speaker, delegate or exhibitor/sponsor, make sure you plan to be there!

Be part of the national conversation on water and wastewater management

North America Hosts the World! Be among the first to save! Take advantage of our exclusive early bird pricing and enjoy unbeatable saving for the next 48 hours! 

The 2024 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition (WWCE) will take place in Toronto, Canada, from August 11-15, 2024 in the first-class facilities of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

This is one of the greatest global water events, and it is being hosted here in North America by your water associations – CWWA and CAWQ, with the support of WEF and AWWA. As hosts, we need to have a great presence as we welcome the world. The IWA WWCE 2024 therefore presents an opportunity like no other to profile your organization and showcase your technologies, solutions and expertise!

Join ES&E Magazine, the City of Toronto, Noventa, and R.V. Anderson Associates Ltd. for an engaging technical webinar on wastewater energy transfer in Canada, on March 21.

Plus, CWWA members can save 15% by using promo code: CWWA15

Learn how this innovative technology will harness energy from wastewater to provide 90% of the heating and cooling at Toronto Western Hospital, and cut CO2 emissions by 250,000 tonnes over the next 30 years.

Expert speakers will share insights and lessons learned from this ongoing project, including: identifying opportunities, overcoming various challenges, working with stakeholders, and much more.

Don't miss this chance to learn about the rapidly growing field of wastewater energy transfer, and how your organization can utilize it.

Register now and be part of the wastewater energy discussion.

ES&E Magazine

The Greater Vancouver Water District is celebrating 100 years of providing high-quality drinking water to the region’s 2.8 million residents through a complex treatment and transmission system the district calls “safe and reliable.”

Join us for an unforgettable evening of celebration, laughter, and recognition at the 2024 Water Canada Awards and Improv Show! For next year’s most anticipated event, we're combining the recognition of Canadian Water leaders with the spontaneity of improvisational comedy.

Call for nominations is OPEN! 

If you are a #waternerd with a close eye on industry projects happening all year round, we would love your help to recognize water champions and leaders.

The Water Canada Awards recognizes people, projects, and technologies that demonstrate a strong commitment to improving the quality of the Canadian water sector. Don't miss out on submitting an exceptional person or project for the 2024 awards.

The CANADIAN CENTRE FOR CYBER SECURITY is pleased to highlight the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)’s most recent publication, a toolkit for water and wastewater organizations that may be of interest: Water and Wastewater Cybersecurity | CISA

CWWA notes the passing of former CAWQ and International Water leader Jack Norman

The Government of Canada recently began a public consultation on the development of a right to a healthy environment implementation framework under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The Government is also engaging Canadians on environmental justice and racism to address the fact that certain communities have been disproportionately affected by environmental hazards, like pollution, toxic waste, landfills, and dumps.

Canadian groups, organizations, and governments with freshwater projects can now apply for funding under five Freshwater Ecosystem Initiatives, including Lake Simcoe, the Wolastoq/Saint John River, the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, and Lake of the Woods. The EcoAction Community Funding Program, which supports freshwater projects across Canada, is also now accepting applications. Led by the Canada Water Agency, these programs support partner-led projects that will have a positive and measurable impact on freshwater quality and support the priorities of Canada’s strengthened Freshwater Action Plan.

Health Canada identifies chemical priorities in drinking water every four to five years. 

Health Canada is in the early stages of reviewing the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality for fluoride. That review includes assessing new scientific studies on potential health effects associated with exposure to fluoride.

New research has suggested that exposure to fluoride may cause neurocognitive effects, but based on several considerations, the panel agreed there is not a sufficient basis at this time to recommend a specific point of departure and health-based value for neurocognitive effects.

The report details the current research on neurocognitive effects, and provides more context to the recommendations.

Health Canada recently published a new Guideline for Drinking Water Quality for Antimony. The Guideline sets a maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) of 0.006 mg/L (6 μg/L) is established for total antimony in drinking water.

Water Canada

The Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund will help municipalities repair, rehabilitate and expand critical drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. We are investing $200 million over three years.

Projects funded through the program will aim to unlock more housing opportunities, support the province’s growing population, protect communities, and enhance economic growth.

The Times

“Environmentally-friendly” wet wipes are no longer fine to flush down the lavatory, Britain’s water industry has admitted.

Water UK, the trade association for Britain’s water companies, has removed its certification scheme which had labelled wipes that had passed scientific tests as “fine to flush”.

Water Canada

One of North America’s largest water infrastructure projects reached a major milestone on Wednesday, January 31, when pumps were activated for the first time to begin pushing water into the new Don River valley.

The $1.3-billion, 10-year flood protection project is part of a reclamation project that will connect the river to Lake Ontario later in 2024. It will take a couple of weeks to fill the 1.3-kilometre river valley, allowing crews to gauge how the water initially moves through the new infrastructure. The pumps will run until an overall depth of two to three metres is achieved.

Water Canada

Further advancing the Administration’s all-of-the-above Water Supply Strategy to make California more resilient to hotter, drier conditions, the State Water Resources Control Board approved regulations today that will allow water systems to develop treatment protocols to convert wastewater into high quality drinking water.

Water Canada

Santa Barbara, California – Groundwater is rapidly declining across the globe, often at accelerating rates. Writing in the journal Nature, UC Santa Barbara researchers present the largest assessment of groundwater levels around the world, spanning nearly 1,700 aquifers. In addition to raising the alarm over declining water resources, the work offers instructive examples of where things are going well, and how groundwater depletion can be solved. The study is a boon for scientists, policy makers and resource managers working to understand global groundwater dynamics.

The Water Network

In the face of growing public concern about the presence of micropollutants in water and wastewater, Dr Pablo Campo Moreno senior lecturer in applied chemistry at Cranfield University’s water science institute, identifies those taking the lead in tackling them. 

NPR

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing that nine PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," be categorized as hazardous to human health.

The EPA signed a proposal Wednesday that would deem the chemicals "hazardous constituents" under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The Guardian

Beauty companies will have to pay more to clean up micropollutants after EU negotiators struck a new deal to treat sewage.

Under draft rules that follow the “polluter pays principle”, companies that sell medicines and cosmetics will have to cover at least 80 per cent of the extra costs needed to get rid of tiny pollutants that are dirtying urban wastewater. Governments will pay the rest, members of the bloc said, in an effort to prevent vital products from becoming too expensive or scarce.