2020 Water Canada Summit Award Winners
The 11th annual Canadian Water Summit celebrated the winners of the 2020 Water’s Next Awards on June 11, 2020.
Hosted by Water Canada’s Managing Editor Andrew Macklin, the presentation of the 2020 Water’s Next Awards recognized individuals, projects, and technologies that have made significant contributions to the water industry in Canada.
“This year’s Water’s Next award finalists and winners reflect the very best of the Canadian water sector,” said Macklin. “The people, projects, and technologies recognized show the incredible work being done to improve the quality of our drinking water, the health of our water systems, and the
resilience of our communities. We are very fortunate to have such a vibrant, dedicated workforce in the water industry here in Canada.”
The winners of the 2020 Water’s Next Awards are:
Category - People: Academic Leader
Julia Baird—Assistant Professor, Brock University
Julia’s research is focused on improving the governance of our water resources. She is currently studying climate change adaptation and flood planning networks to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. The lessons learned from this research will have implications for watersheds across Canada. This is particularly relevant as climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of flood events and the need for climate change adaptation plans.
Category - People: Business Leader
John Gillis—Innovation Cluster—Peterborough and the Kawarthas
John started his entrepreneurial journey creating a business in process instrumentation and automation, which quickly grew into a multi-million dollar company, Measuremax. The main
focus for Measuremax was the water/wastewater market and created many innovative products to service the sector. John has been a founding member of the Peterborough Region Angel Network, since 2006, which has a focus on investing in cleantech companies and startups. He then partnered with two other Angels and two young entrepreneurs to start Aclarus Ozone, a
technology company in the water and wastewater market. After several years of business, John has come to the Innovation Cluster so that he may use his time and knowledge to give back to the community of Peterborough in the cleantech industry. John is now president of the Innovation Cluster. In this role, he helps startups in various technology sectors.
Category - People: Government Leader
Barry Orr—Sewer Outreach and Control Inspector, City of London
Barry has over 25 years of experience in environmental and wastewater fields. He is the spokesperson for the Municipal Enforcement Sewer Use Group of Canada, and the Canadian representative on the International Water Services Flushability Group for the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association. He is also appointed as an expert representative on the Standards Council of Canada’s and the International Organization for Standardization’s “flushable” workgroup. In addition to this, Barry is the author of many articles published in Water Canada Magazine, Environmental Science and Engineering Magazine, WEAO’s Influents Magazine, and a co-author of the Ryerson University report: Defining “Flushability” for Sewer Use.Category - People: Non-Government Leader
Chitra Gowda—Source Water Protection Lead, Conservation Ontario
Chitra has close to 20 years of experience related to water programs and policy, including source water protection, watershed monitoring and planning, conservation practices, and climate change assessments. Chitra has a Bachelor degree and a Master’s degree in environmental engineering. She works closely with conservation authorities, the provincial government, municipalities, and others. Her experience includes collaborative stakeholder engagement, working with Indigenous peoples, and strategic planning.Category - People: Water Operator
Krista Derrickson—Operator, Westbank First Nation
Krista has been an operator for 20 years. She started working in the water industry by accident. She went to school and received a degree in environmental science. When she went back to her community, there was no work available. When an opportunity came up to apply for the Water Operator position, she was encouraged to apply. Now, she can’t imagine doing anything else. She is the third generation to be involved in the supply of water for her community. She loved being an operator and supporting other operators in whatever way she can, big or small.CCategory - People: Young Professional
Anum Khan—Graduate Student, Ryerson University
Anum is a graduate student in the civil engineering program at Ryerson University. Her research focuses on applications of machine learning for urban wastewater collection systems and using digital transformation to make these systems more resilient to “flushable” consumer products. Anum also leads a non-profit initiative, Water for the World, that delivers workshops to students in kindergarten to grade 12 to raise awareness about issues linked to global water poverty. She also volunteers with the Ontario Headwaters Institute and serves on Canadian Water Network’s Student and Young Professional Committee.Category - Projects and Technology: Conveyance
City of Waterloo
Category - Projects and Technology: Drinking Water
Logistec
Logistec is developing SANEXEN’s Second Generation Trenchless Structural CIPP Technology for water main replacement applications. Sanexen’s second generation water technology has been proven to be resilient to earthquakes by Cornell University. The technology is intended to be a damage-tolerant cured in-place pipe (CIPP) product with greatly improved strength. It resists the stringent and demanding loading conditions of a water main, to a level equivalent to that of any other pipelines for static loading and better than any new water main designs for extreme soil deformation such as earthquake events. This solution offers a far less disruptive, less costly, more environmentally-friendly, and physically superior alternative to the outright replacement of aging or deteriorated water main pipes.Category - Projects and Technology: Early Adoption
Bishop Water—The Nation Municipality
Bishop BioCord™ Reactors are being installed to upgrade the capacity and performance of the Limoges Wastewater Treatment Facility, near Ottawa, Ontario. BioCord’s low capital and operating cost enabled The Nation Municipality to cost-effectively extend the life of its treatment lagoons and avoid the high cost of replacing them with a complex mechanical treatment plant. BioCord is a simple, easy-to-operate fixed-film technology that uses strands of densely arranged loops of polymer fibres to provide a massive surface area on which preferred bacteria can grow. With an optimized BioCord system, wastewater lagoons can accept greater nutrient loading, decrease retention times and improve effluent quality—especially in cold-weather conditions.Category - Projects and Technology: Stormwater
City of Vancouver—Rain City Strategy
The City of Vancouver’s Rain City Strategy is an ambitious 30-year green infrastructure and rainwater management plan that will change how rainwater is managed in the urban environment. Developed by a multidisciplinary team, the Rain City Strategy provides a road map for how the city will revolutionize the design of public and private spaces to manage rainwater. It sets an ambitious target to manage 90 per cent of Vancouver’s average rainfall, which translates to a green infrastructure design standard to capture and clean 48 millimetres of rainfall per day.Category - Projects and Technology: Wastewater
BQE Water
Selen-IX™ is a patented water treatment process technology developed to address North American regulatory discharge limits for selenium of three parts per billion. The process combines ion exchange and electro-reduction to selectively remove selenium, creating a small amount of stable non-toxic residue with offtake potential. The ability of Selen-IX™ to treat large volumes of water, operate intermittently/seasonally, and respond to rapid fluctuations in feed flow makes it highly effective for selenium control in industrial applications. The first Selen-IX™ plant at a mine site will commence operations in the second half of 2020 while the first at a power utility will be operational in early 2021.SENTRY
SENTRY is a unique bio-electrode sensor technology that provides real-time microbial performance monitoring in anaerobic and aerobic wastewater treatment systems. SENTRY data is used by plant operators to: identify imbalance/toxicity events; minimize costs associated with aeration; and maximize organic loading to aerobic of anaerobic treatment systems.Category - Projects and Technology: Water Resources
Aclarus Ozone
Anticipated water shortages and better sustainability are driving water reuse. Developers proactively needed to meet regulations by lessening water demand through reuse. Aclarus Ozone provided a chemical free, high-flow solution to treat and reuse rain, ground, and green roof water for non-potable reuse. Ozone disinfectants and treats a wide range of contaminants including metals, colour, odour, and many chemicals. Reuse with ozone lowers demands on municipal infrastructure as well as chemicals that end up in the environment.Project of the Year
City of Vancouver – Rain City Strategy
The City of Vancouver’s Rain City Strategy is an ambitious 30-year green infrastructure and rainwater management plan that will change how rainwater is managed in the urban environment. Developed by a multidisciplinary team, the Rain City Strategy provides a road map for how the city will revolutionize the design of public and private spaces to manage rainwater. It sets an ambitious target to manage 90 per cent of Vancouver’s average rainfall, which translates to a green infrastructure design standard to capture and clean 48 millimetres of rainfall per day.Water Steward of the Year
