Associated is excited to once again join the many delegates attending the BC Water and Waste Association's annual conference! Our participating staff will be part of the important networking, learning, and sharing of technical and personal perspectives in the following sessions during the two-day virtual program:
Tuesday, November 3
10:00am - 11:30am | Education Room 3
Young Professionals Session
Sylvia Woolley
In this dynamic session, YP presenters will share some of their favorite lessons, challenges and experiences, and non-YPs will impart share their wisdom from past experiences. Each Pecha Kucha presentation consists of 20 slides with 20 seconds of commentary (6 minutes and 40 seconds total), encouraging presenters to talk less, show more and have fun.
Wednesday, November 4
10:30am - 11:00am | Education Room 2
City of Chilliwack Well Pumping Test and Pilot Investigation
Rachel Trower
Due to increasing potable water demands, the City of Chilliwack is investigating whether the East Chilliwack Aquifer, known to have elevated iron and manganese, could be used to supplement their primary source, the Sardis Aquifer. To gain a better understanding of the aquifer’s water quality and the treatment requirements, the City retained Associated Engineering to design and oversee a year-long pumping test, and a month-long pilot study. This was conducted at Well No. 5, a production well developed in the 1990s but taken offline due to challenges with water quality. After two months of pumping, iron and manganese in the water increased to levels exceeding aesthetic objectives. These levels continued to increase for 9 months and then appeared to stabilize. The pilot study was then completed using pre-oxidation followed by filtration-adsorption. The findings of the pilot study were used to develop a conceptual design for a full-scale water treatment plant.
11:00am - 11:30am | Education Room 1
Granular and Flocculant Biomass: Learnings Flow Both Ways
Dean Shiskowski
With dense, compact granules reaching particle diameters in excess of 1 mm and discreet granule settling velocities in the order of tens-of-metres per hour, aerobic granular biomass (AGB) is a topic that has attracted significant industry interest in recent years. A key element of granule development success is minimizing the carry-over of readily degradable carbon from un-aerated “feast” bioreactor environments to aerated “famine” environments, which can induce filamentous or zoogloeal flocculant biomass growth. Such conditions can cause outgrowths on individual granules, which impedes their settling velocity, or poor-settling flocculant growth within the biomass matrix that slows its overall setting velocity. In this context, select data from two laboratory-scale AGB experimental systems fed real primary effluent are presented to illustrate the correlation of carbon carry-over on measured sludge volume index and show how improvements were achieved concurrent with system modifications. Implications for conventional, flocculant biomass systems are also discussed.
1:00pm - 1:30pm | Education Room 2
Wetlands and Bioengineering Increase Water Quality and Resiliency of Watersheds
Carrie Nadeau
Watershed health is important for source water protection and resiliency in the face of climate change, which is expected to exacerbate drinking water quality in vulnerable watersheds. Restoration of riparian vegetation and wetlands can improve natural functions and watershed resiliency. For example, riparian vegetation protects water quality by stabilizing creek banks and reducing risk of erosion. Wetlands filter, hold, recharge and slowly release surface and groundwater water into the watershed to improve water quality and reduce the severity of floods and drought. Bioengineering is a collaboration between biologists and engineers to use biological materials to address issues like improving slope stability and restoring natural ecological function to improve watershed health and protect source water quality. This presentation will showcase examples of using bioengineering techniques to achieve these objectives.