Page S-2 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018

©2018 CanaData. All rights reserved.

John Clinkard

Vol. 16, Issue 4

Economic Snapshot

Stock market hiccup does not signal cyclical global economic downturn

The headline “Dow Jones has largest single day point drop” definitely has an end of the world ring to it.

However, a less hysterical analysis might have reported that, after posting a 33% increase over the previous 52 weeks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average corrected by 8.5% since the beginning of February.

Moreover, this drop in stock prices was widely anticipated by many market watchers, particularly those who have seen the market catch its breath fol-lowing previous unsustainably steep uphill climbs.

Although the epicentre of the stock price correc-tion was the U.S., its impact was felt globally. While it is impossible to directly link this stock price correction to a spe-cific event, the proximate cause appears to have been the spectre that Jerome Powell, the recently appointed chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, was soon going to raise interest rates more quickly than expected to dampen inflationary tendencies ignited by the higher than anticipated (by most analysts) 2.9% jump in January average hourly earnings, which occurred against a back-ground of near full employment.

Financial market volatility aside, a number of recent for-ward reports suggest that the near-term outlook for the global economy remains upbeat. First, in its World Economic Out-look Update released in Davos, Switzerland in late January, the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) noted that global eco-nomic activity was continuing to “firm up”. Not only did the IMF boost its estimate of global growth in 2017 up from 3.6% to 3.7%, it now anticipates growth in 2018 and 2019 at 3.9%, which is 0.2% stronger than it projected in October of 2017. The IMF observed that this improved growth outlook was broadly based with new contributions from Asia and Europe.

While not quite as bullish on growth as the IMF, the picture painted by the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects in January of this year is also quite positive. As with the IMF, the World Bank acknowledges that the “global economy is experiencing a cyclical recovery” against a background of “benign global financial con-ditions… rising confidence and firming commodity prices”.

Finally, in its General Assessment of the Macro Economic Situa-tion, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop-ment (OECD) observed that the “global economy is now growing at its fastest pace since 2010” and the upturn is synchronized across countries. For 2018, the OECD growth projection is in the same ballpark as those of the IMF. This improving outlook

for growth in the majority of developed countries, in the United States and in Canada is illustrated in the chart.

No outlook for the U.S. economy can ignore the impact on consumer spending and business investment of the recent major reduction in U.S. personal and corporate income taxes. While there are some reports that the com-plexity of the new tax regulations is temporarily causing some small businesses to postpone sharing their lower taxes with their employees, an expanding number of large com-panies, including AT&T, Walmart, Home Depot and Apple, to name just a few, have already apportioned their increased after-tax revenues with their employees by awarding

bonuses, raising minimum wages and/or boosting benefits. We expect that this uptick in personal income will translate

into stronger growth of consumer spending in the first half of this year. In view of the fact it takes time for firms to revise their investment plans, the more significant impact of the reduction in corporate taxes in the form of increased spending on plant and equipment will probably not show up until the second half

of this year, but should persist through 2019 and into 2020.

Given that several forward looking indica-tors, including the Con-ference Board’s Leading Economic Index, both the ISM’s Manufac-turing and Non-Manu-facturing Indexes, and the University of Mich-igan’s Index of Con-sumer Sentiment show uptrends, we expect the U.S. economy to grow in the range of 2.5% to 3.5% into 2019.

While the positive prospects for the global economy in general and for the United States specifically should give the Canadian economy a sustained tailwind over the next twelve to eighteen months, this outlook is overshadowed by a number of potential impediments to growth. At the top of the list is uncertainty regarding the outcome of nego-tiations related to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Second, uncertainty regarding the regulations associated with the recently announced Impact Assessment Agency of Canada may continue to hobble the construction of pipelines essential to Cana-dian energy exporters. It may also discourage investment in new energy projects.

John Clinkard has over 35 years’ experience as an economist in international, national and regional research and analysis with leading fi nancial institutions and media outlets in Canada.

Composite Leading Indicators – OECD + 6 Major Non-Member Economies, United States and CanadaComposite Leading Indicators - OECD + 6 Major Non Member Economies, United States and Canada

Data Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/ Chart: Construct Connect, CanaData

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

09

-J A J O

10

-J A J O

11

-J A J O

12

-J A J O

13

-J A J O

14

-J A J O

15

-J A J O

16

-J A J O

17

-J A J O

Ind

ex -

lon

g-t

erm

ave

rag

e =

100

Year and month

United States

OECD + 6 Major Non-Member Countries Canada

Data Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Chart: ConstructConnect — CanaData.

DAN O’REILLYCORRESPONDENT

Stretching along Bathurst Street from the Highway 7 on/off ramp north to Birch Avenue in Richmond Hill, a new watermain is being described as an ‘emergency

rehabilitation’ by York Region and for good reason.A series of breaks culminating in a major one in November

2016, which forced a partial closure of the street, accelerated the original timeline for building the $11-million, 1.4-kilometre-long, 450mm diameter line.

Underway since May 2017 and preceded by a fast-paced design, the Bathurst Street Emergency Watermain Rehabilita-tion includes the installation of a temporary above ground line, the use of trenchless technology and winter construction.

Bolton-based general contractor Memme Excavating Com-pany Limited has had to battle the elements and was forced to shut down for about five days “because it was too cold and not safe to work,” says its president, Claudio Vinelli.

However, the last of six chambers was scheduled to be installed in February and the company is on track for a sched-

uled spring completion, he says.Memme has a workforce 15 to 16 is on site “on any given

day”. That figure doesn’t include those of Earth Boring Co. Lim-ited, its trenchless boring subcontractor.

The history of the project dates to 2013 when a full condition assessment by the region’s environmental services department concluded the existing line was “corroded, susceptible to breaks, and needed to be replaced,” says York Region project manager Mandy Paglia.

A consultant was hired and a design completed with the intention a new one should be built in tandem with a planned widening of the street to minimize disruption and avoid a sce-nario where the road would have to be ripped up and utility lines relocated twice, she explains.

However, that expansion has been pushed into the future more than a few times and then the region had to contend with the fallout from the November 2016 break.

“We can’t keep repairing this line,” says Paglia in summariz-ing the region’s decision in January 2017 to move forward with the project ahead of the road widening.

Once that decision was reached, planning, design, and pro-curement moved quickly. An update and revision of the original design plans was conducted by GHD Limited, with a key focus on presenting alternatives to relocating the utilities — which will have to be moved when the road widening occurs.

That has been achieved through is the use of horizontal directional drilling under the utility lines and a number of creeks for about 900 metres or almost half the length. Open cut is being used along the rest of the route, she says.

Memme was selected from the region’s pre-qualified emer-gency contractors’ list and provided input into the design. Its first task was building and connecting the temporary line. Although the physical connection was not overly long, the dis-infection process took about six weeks to complete, she says.

Asked how that interim utility is protected, Paglia says it has been “winterized” through the use of a heat tracing line and fiberglass wrapping.

Due to the location of the existing watermain, the new one, and the proposed location of other future infrastructure, the project also includes the (now completed) relocation of 200 metres of a storm sewer. Apart from the extreme weather con-ditions, a major challenge has being managing traffic conges-tion on Bathurst stemming from lane restrictions.

To keep area residents and businesses abreast of the project’s progress, the region has been dropping off notices at area busi-nesses, and posting updates on its web site, and other social media platforms, says Paglia.

The watermain is on the Richmond Hill side of Bathurst which forms the boundary with the City of Vaughan. But there is one connection with that city’s infrastructure and, “since the construction affects both northbound and southbound traffic lanes, the region provides updates to both municipalities and residents living on both sides of the road.”

Upgrades

Bathurst Street emergency watermain build an intricate project

YORK REGION

York Region has been building a new $11-million, $1.4 kilometre long watermain along Bathurst Street. The work includes installation of a temporary above ground line.

S O D D I N G

T E R R A S E E D I N GS I L T S O C K

H Y D R O S E E D I N GS O I L A M E N D M E N T S

B L O W E R T R U C K S S E R V I C E Swww.lipanigroup.com

1.866.354.7264

i n f o @ l i p a n i g r o u p . c o m

50YEARS

Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Page S-3

BUILDING COMMUNITIES ACROSS ONTARIOFor three decades, Brock Aggregates has been your fi rst choice for all your gravel, limestone, sand and stone needs. Providing the construction industry with the raw materials that build our communities is a responsibility we take seriously, and Brock Aggregates is dedicated to superior quality and exceptional customer service each and every time.

GandLgroup.com

Trust the G&L Group, Partners in Your Performance.

TOGETHER, WE’RE STRONGER

Page S-4 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018

Manufacturer and Distributorof hot forged bolts, specialty threaded products and fasteners

in accordance with the highest quality standards – Niagara Fasteners.Our manufacturing range is from 1/2" to 2 1/2" diameter, and M16 to M36.

All Major Head Configurations

Materials SAE Grades 2,5,8; ASTM Grades A307-B; A193-B7-B8; A320-L7; A325; A354-BC or BD; A449; A490; Stainless.

ThreadingFully threaded rods and studs from 1/4" to 6"diameter UNC - UNF - ACME - Metric - British - Rope.

Anchor Bolts

Larger diameter blanks and, all common grades are stocked and ready for threading to your specifications.

Hex; Heavy Hex; Square Carriage; Guard Rail; Specials.

TSSA QA 423CSA Z299.3

ISO 9001Registered

Custom to your specifications: straight; bent; re-bar; multi-unit.

Precision MachiningWe have CNC lathes with live tooling and bar feeding

capabilities, and a fully equipped machine shop with presses, benders, saws, drills and mills, welders and conventional lathes. With our in house capabilities and our standard o� the shelf fasteners we are able to o�er a complete line of structural bolting, on time and at a competitive price.

6095 Progress Street, P.O. Box148, Niagara Falls, ON Canada L2E 6S8 905.356.6887 1.800.263.3602 fax 905.356.5747 nfsales@niagarafasteners.com www.niagarafasteners.com

IAN HARVEYCORRESPONDENT

Would you pay to pump raw sew-age through your building? How about buying back your own

waste after you flushed it down the toilet?DC Water thinks you might.The American utility provides drinking

water and wastewater treatment in the District of Columbia and surrounding communities. It is at the forefront of innovative ways to lever-age their infrastructure and generate revenues to offset consumer rates.

The point of such innovation and explo-ration is integral to the continuing trend to position wastewater treatment as a resource to extract minerals and other components from the flow and monetize them — includ-ing energy.

DC Water has made several explorations along those lines such as a drinking water filtration system which can be monitored through a smart phone to check filter lifecycle and quality. It trying to license this to other regions and it also plans to retail bio-solids as fertilizers.

One of its projects involves a Vancouver company, SHARC Energy Systems (formerly International Wastewater Systems) which is building heat exchanger system for the utility’s new headquarters being built at their treat-ment plant.

It’s similar to the pilot project DC Water is working on at the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) net-zero energy headquarters in Washington.

It’s designed to extract heat in winter and to cool in winter, says Saul Kinter, program man-ager at DC Water and Blue Drop, the utility’s innovation arm.

In the summer when the outside tem-

perature is 32 C to 35 C, the sewer system is running at about 21 C, while in the winter it runs at about 10 C when the outside tem-perature is -10 C.

The sewer system is a thermodynamic resource, he says, pointing to a study which showed about 80 per cent of that energy is thermal, 20 per cent is chemical — biogas pro-duction — while one per cent is kinetic, from the flow of the system itself.

For Vancouver’s SHARC Energy the DC Water HQ is a showcase project.

“We’re over the moon because this is the first big project in the U.S. which will provide 100 per cent of the heating and cooling,” says Lynn Mueller, founder and president and CEO of SHARC Energy. “We’re guesstimating they’ll offset 300 tonnes a year of CO2.”

The $500,000 installation will provide all heating and cooling for the 150,000 square foot building. Because it’s located on the treatment plant site the abundant flow of sewage provides more than enough thermodynamic exchange.

The plan at the AGU is to connect to the tear-shaped 66-inch by 99-inch combined storm and sanitary sewer which dates back to the late 1800s.

The system is from Huber of Germany and will see a 12 inch or so pipe divert sewage and run it to a settling tank located outside of the building. From there water will be circulated through the building and then returned to the sewer system. It also uses a solar photovoltaic array, radiant cooling system, green wall, direct current power grid and water reclamation as part of its net zero strategy.

However, in the case of the AGU building there’s a huge expense in digging to get access to the sewer main and then tapping into which may not fully offset savings from energy.

“As a promoter of the system I have to say the ROI (return on investment) may not be there,” Kinter says of the pilot. “In winter the building is heated with natural gas and will save maybe 70 to 80 per cent in costs. However, natural gas is fairly inexpensive right now, so the monetary savings won’t be that great.”

In summer, however, while electricity is more expensive than natural gas, the energy savings from the heat exchanger will be prob-ably in the 20 to 25 per cent range, he says, and while that’s substantial in of itself, it will be a while before the costs of installation, operation and maintenance net out.

The pilot is more about demonstration of concept and DC Water isn’t charging for the extraction of energy from its sewer system.

“We’d like to in the future,” he says. “But this may not be worthwhile for individual build-ings. What would be more efficient would be district heating systems.”

As such, in locations of urban renewal where there is wholesale development and access to the sewer systems is required, the shared costs and shared energy extraction would make much more sense economically.

At their own new headquarters, there’s a proximity to the plant and the main lines so there isn’t as much of a cost factor. That sys-tem is from SHARC Energy which installed a similar system at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Village.

Both the ACU and DC Water HQ are expected to be up and running by this summer.

The quest for innovation often takes the form or refining existing models and a case in point is Blue Drop’s Bloom, the resulting bio-solids discharged at the end of the treat-ment cycle.

While many municipalities sell or provide them as fertilizer in bulk, Blue Drop is looking at marketing them on a much more local and intimate level.

Alan Heymann, chief marketing officer at DC Water, says while the utility doesn’t make big money from sales at $10 a tonne, it off-sets costs of $45 a tonne to have the bio-solids picked up and disposed of.

With the system generating 450 tonnes a day, those savings adds up.

The Class A fertilizer is 30 per cent solids giving it a cakey texture when sold in bulk. However, the plan now is to package it in smaller bags at 40 per cent solids and retail it through area garden centres as an alternative to sheep or cow manure.

“There’s a consistent supply, the price doesn’t change and we think there’s a mar-ket around DC and south,” he says but notes there are challenges beyond packaging, dis-tributing and marketing the product brand-ed as Bloom.

“There’s the ick factor which we have to deal with.”

Waste Innovation

Waste resource recovery pushes into cash recovery programs

DC WATER

DC Water is an American utility which provides drinking water and wastewater treatment in the District of Columbia and its surrounding communities. It is considered at the forefront of innovative ways to leverage wastewater treatment as resource to extract minerals and other components from it and monetize them, from energy to fertilizer. The fertilizer product is branded as Bloom.

Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Page S-5

CLEAN WATER IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS.

Ontario has an abundance of freshwater in the natural environment, but this does not translate into a low-cost supply of water. Extraction, treatment, transmission, sewage collection, and treatment for discharge is a costly, yet critical, cycle that is vital to public health across the province.

For decades, Ontarians have taken clean water for granted by underfunding their municipal water systems. The result is a municipal water infrastructure de�cit in the tens of billions of dollars and a continuing capital under-investment in many municipalities.

Rethinking how we manage and fund these core infrastructure assets is essential to long-term public health and the sustainability of our drinking water sources in the province.

Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association5045 Orbitor Dr., Unit 12, Suite 300, Mississauga, ON L4W 4Y4

t: 905.629.7766 | f: 905.629.0587info@oswca.org | oswca.org

Page S-6 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018

DAN O’REILLYCORRESPONDENT

It’s not the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in or by Peel Region but the $200-million Burnhamthor-pe Water Project might be compared to a giant chess

game with a lot of players.The project will impact a large swath of downtown Missis-

sauga and, in particular, its city centre. Now underway and con-tinuing to 2021 a series of new watermains, sanitary sewers, and storm sewers will be placed in and near the city centre which is the site of the City of Mississauga civic centre, the city’s central library, the Square One Shopping Centre, plus office buildings and condominiums.

Designed by consulting engineers Hatch, the project is intended to accommodate growth in that district of another 25,000 residents and 20,000 employees by 2031.

There will be five different contracts, although what is known as Contract 1/Contract 2, will be awarded to the same firm.

Last fall the first step in the multi-phase venture commenced when Dom-Meridian Construction Ltd. started the open cut installation a 400-mm watermain, a 375-mm sanitary sewer and a 600/700-mm storm sewer on Square One Drive, plus a 750-mm watermain on the adjacent Hurontario Street.

However, the largest and most complex component will be the tunnel installation of a 1,500—mm watermain underneath Burhamthorpe Road (Contract 1/2).

Stretching from Grand Park Drive in the west to Cawthra Road in the east, it will require the excavation of four shafts for the tunnel boring machine. Tenders were closed on Feb. 9 and an award winner is expected to be announced shortly.

The project will most likely will be a 24/7 operation and the winning firm will be given a certain amount of leeway to make operational decisions including “which (tunnel) direction it wants to head,” says Heather Jefferson, project manager with Peel Region’s water division.

However, the section in the Burhamthorpe Road/Hurontar-io Street area must be completed by late 2019 or early 2020 so as not to interfere with the City of Mississauga’s Hurontario Light Rapid Transit (LRT) project, she says.

To be built along Hurontario north from Port Credit to Steeles Avenue, the LRT will loop around the city centre.

In emphasizing the urgency of the tunnel scheduling, Jeffer-son points out that “the LRT will be right on our heels.”

The tunnel contractor will also be responsible for an array of

other works along Burhamthorpe including a 600-mm waterline.And that’s not all. The same contractor will also be chosen

to micro-tunnel a 1,200-mm sanitary sewer on Duke of York Street from Burnhamthorpe north to Rathburn Road and then east almost to Hurontario.

Layered on top of all these regional projects are a myriad of private sector ones, both within and near the city centre, and that combination “will certainly have an impact” in terms of truck traffic and machinery movement, she says.

To meet that challenge the region is employing a mix of strat-egies such as trenchless technology at crossings, selective oper-ating hours and night work.

A case in point is the measures being followed by Dom-Meridian Construction. In mid-November construction activity on Square One Drive “stopped cold” at the request of developer Oxford Properties so that Christmas shopping traffic wouldn’t be impeded.

In January Dom-Meridian returned to the site, but is now working nights from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m., says Jefferson.

Other initiatives which will be taken in order to reduce the construction inconvenience include limiting contractors’ deliv-eries to off-peak hours, installing acoustic hoarding at sensitive locations and coordinating with the City of Mississauga Transit (Mi-Way) to limit delays in bus service.

In addition, a regional ‘Ambassador’ will be conducting a public information campaign and will keep businesses and resi-dents informed about project developments, says Jefferson.

Geoff Wright, commissioner of transportation and works at the City of Mississauga, says there is close cooperation between the two government levels to inform residents of scheduled construction in their areas.

In underlining the project’s importance, Wright says it will improve water supply and provide water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades that support growth in downtown Mississauga.

As for the Hurontario Light Rail Transit Project, it’s currently in procurement. Last August a Request for Proposals was issued by Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx to three pre-qualified shortlisted teams to design, build, finance, operate and main-tain it. The eventual winning bid team will have a defined con-struction schedule by the end of this year, says Wright.

Logistics

$200-million water project in Mississauga a chess game in planning

Managing the success of your construction business can be challenging in today’s evolving marketplace.

When you partner with Aviva for your surety needs, you can count on us to provide you with: • Expert advice and consultation for your specific project • Our commitment to help you meet your business goals • A stable partnership focused on the long-term

With more than 100 years of expertise behind us, you can trust Aviva as your valued business partner.

Contact your broker to learn more.

A partner you can trust

Aviva and the Aviva logo are trademarks used under license by the licensor.

avivacanada.comInsurance – Home | Auto | Leisure & Lifestyle | Business | Surety

REGION OF PEEL

Pictured here is the excavation required for the installation of a 400-mm watermain included in the Burnhamthorpe Water Project undertaken by Peel Region.

REGION OF PEEL

A worker focuses on the grouting of joints between 400-mm watermain pipes during the multi-phase Burnhamthor-pe Road Water Project.

Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Page S-7

Tackle Framing, Flooring and Finishing jobs both large and small with the features of a pneumatic tool and the con-venience of cordless. Our compact and lightweight cordless nailers & staplers offer features like tool-free depth adjust-ment and micro nose for precision nail placement. Brushless motor technology and advanced Lithium-Ion battery packs give you maximum runtime. Cordless Confidence - Guaranteed Tough.

Copyright ©2018 DEWALT. The following are examples of trademarks for one or more DEWALT power tools and accessories: The yellow and black color scheme; the “D”-shaped air intake grill; the array of pyramids on the handgrip; the kit box configuration; and the array of lozenge-shaped humps on the surface of the tool. **With respect to the DEWALT 20V MAX*: Maximum initial battery voltage (measured without a workload) is 20 volts. Nominal voltage is 18.

CORDLESS NAILERS & STAPLERS

BRAD NAIL

18GAUGE

ANGLED NAIL

16GAUGE

ANGLED NAIL

15GAUGE

NARROW CROWNSTAPLE

18GAUGE

NARROW CROWNSTAPLE

18GAUGE

Learn More at

FULL HEADNAIL

30°

METAL CONNECTORNAIL

MC

DWCrdlssNailerAd_DCN_FPB.pdf 1 2/7/18 1:17 PM

Page S-8 Sewer and Watermain/Water and Wastewater Daily Commercial News February 23, 2018

PETER KENTERCORRESPONDENT

Emery Creek in northwest Toronto is a small tribu-tary to the Humber River with an outsized pollution problem. Given its size, it contributes more than its

share of pollutants, including lead, zinc, copper and sew-age. Construction of a series of three engineered stormwater retention ponds by Clearway Construction is designed to slow down runoff and allow pollution to settle before water enters the Humber.

The project, valued at just over $14 million, was com-pleted on behalf of the City of Toronto and was overseen by engineer of record WSP Canada. It included excavation of more than 300,000 cubic metres of earth, design and construction of two temporary access bridges, and numer-ous pre-cast concrete elements and control structures.

Emery is an industrial neighbourhood founded in the mid-1950s. As factories were built, Emery Creek was boxed and buried although factories used the tributary to drain stormwater runoff and industrial sewage. By the mid-1990s, groups including the Emery Creek Environmental Associa-tion began work to promote improved water quality. How-ever, residual pollutants continue to enter the creek.

The project is located in St. Lucie Park where Emery Creek enters the Humber.

“The three connected ponds have a combined capacity of more than 60,000 cubic metres,” says Mark Meyer, general manager with Clearway. The first pond is a sedimentation pond, designed to take out the bulk of the particles. The sec-ond is a shallow wetland system that acts as a settling pond, while plants remove excess nutrients and heavy metal. The

third is the largest and allows settlement of fine particles before water is discharged through a pipe to the Humber.

Infrastructure built for the project includes precast con-crete headwalls, a precast baffle wall by IECS Ready Mix Inc., and large diameter concrete pipes placed between ponds. A cast-in-place concrete weir allows Emery Creek waters to be diverted to the retention ponds.

Construction began in March 2016 alongside Emery Creek, which would only be connected to the retention sys-tem following project completion.

A staging area was established off Weston Road near the entrance to the park with six large pieces of excavation equipment, including bulldozers and rock trucks, brought to the site. As many as 30 workers were occupied on the site at one time.

Adding to the complexity of the project, the construction team needed to develop a series of rigorous slope protection and erosion control approaches to deal with precipitation while working on the Humber floodplain.

“We had significant rainfall and rising floodwaters during construction,” says Meyer.

“To prevent silt from entering the Humber, we surrounded

the work area with an engineered enclosure. This was essen-tially a geotextile sock with a gravel and filter medium packed inside it. Once processed, the filtered water was directed into the Humber River.”

Earthmoving operations were generally uneventful until it came time to join two of the ponds with 2,100-mm concrete pipe.

“The corridor between the ponds was home to six oil and gas pipelines,” says Meyer.

“The internal piping between the ponds had to run under-neath the gas and oil pipes, which were located between 1.5 and 2.5 metres deep. The work was completed with some custom shoring, pipeline support and protection and very careful mechanical and vacuum excavation — all under the watchful eye of the gas utility.”

As the project neared completion, the bottoms of two of the ponds were lined with a composite bentonite clay liner.

Work on the site was completed in October 2017 follow-ing landscaping.

“Once the weir was opened and Emery Creek was allowed to flow into the retention ponds, they filled quite quickly,” says Meyer. “You can see that a small creek has a lot of impact.”

Stormwater ManagementCourse correction: Emery Creek diversion improves water entering Humber River

IAN HARVEYCORRESPONDENT

The slogan says “Good Things Grow in Ontario” and with a little help from bio-digestion it’s right on the money.

Soil management may seem light years away from waste water recovery technology but everyone in the sector knows the intense connection.

Managing the land we have wisely is the only option for sus-tainability and that includes maintaining optimum soil quality essential for agriculture. It’s a frontier where science and tech-nology have converged to better leverage something most peo-ple would rather just flush and forget.

Lystek International, a Cambridge, Ont.-based company, which designs and makes waste treatment systems, is at the fore-front of that trend to ensure viability of agricultural soil.

Its thermal hydrolysis systems reduces cost, shrinks vol-ume and cuts greenhouse gases by augmenting municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities, converting them into more modern resource recovery centers. They optimize digester performance and boost biogas production, creating a branded nutrient-rich bio-fertilizer while also producing and separating a carbon source for use in Bio Nutrient Removal (BNR) systems.

Its systems target municipalities with for small and mid-sized needs, though they can also scale them up for larger demands such as the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District (FSSD) in California, the Lystek Fairfield Organic Material Recovery Center facility.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) found the resulting fertilizer, LysteGro, is a viable commercial fertilizer replacement to grow corn in western Ontario.

FSSD is a P3 project to revitalize the plant originally built in the late 1970s and who’s Class B bio-solid had been used to cover local landfill.

Now the 150,000 ton, state-of-the-art OMRC-FSSD, is processing 14,000 tons of volume per year servicing Bay Area agencies, including the cities of San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Petaluma and many others.

It also just won the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA), the highest environmental hon-our the state bestows.

Part of that is because the resulting bio-solids are no longer Class B and sprayed on landfill but LysteGro, certified as Class A EQ-US EPA in the United States and here in Canada under the CFIA for use in agriculture.

Lystek started in 2000, the muse of University of Waterloo scientists, Dr. Owen Ward and Dr. Ajay Singh.

Commissioned to look at how Waterloo Region was deal-

ing with waste management. They found that by trucking liquid materials and releasing greenhouse gases that there had to be a better way.

Though the two aren’t involved day-to-day they are still working in research and development, says Kevin Litwiller, director of business development. The company is now held by the Ottawa-based Tomlinson Group, a family-owned construc-tion and waste management company.

The key to the start-ups success out of the gate was that it optimizes the performance of anaerobic digesters, transform-ing organic waste streams into a high-value, nutrient-rich bio-fertilizer while requiring a small footprint and small amounts of energy. Lystek’s system allows for biogases to be double pro-cessed, increasing yield up to 50 per cent or better.

“What they developed using low temperatures, which only go up to about 70 C with three operating parameters to destroy the pathogens, resulted in a high quality liquid fertil-izer with 15 per cent organic solids in concentration, 85 per cent liquid,” he says.

“The material is first subject to low heat steam jets then there’s a maceration blade, like a giant milkshake maker, which then disrupts and breaks up any cell structures and exposes them to the steam as well. Then there’s the addition of alkaline, usually lime or even cement kiln dust or potassium hydroxide.”

The fully automated process effectively kills anything in the material, is simple to install and operate and requires no special training, unlike bio-digestion systems using high temperature.

“We can have a system up and running with trained people in two weeks,” he says.

Lystek is on track to double growth through 2020 from a 2014 baseline and is on track to open facilities in St. Thomas and Innisfil, Ont,, adding to their existing Ontario installations in Guelph, St. Marys, Centre Wellington, Southgate OMRC, Third High Farms (eastern Ontario), Peterborough and in North Battleford, Sask.

Bio-digestion systems can improve soil management

CLEARWAY CONSTRUCTION

The City of Toronto rolled out a $14-million project to have three engineered stormwater retention ponds be built to slow down Emery Creek’s runoff and allow its pollutants to settle better before entering the Humber River.

CLEARWAY CONSTRCUTION

Included in the Emery Creek project were the creation of two temporary access bridges and numerous pre-cast concrete elements and control structures.

LYSTEK

An example of a LysteGro biofertilizer product transfer in a field. Lystek International’s thermal hyrdrosis systems opti-mize digester performance and create a branded nutrient-rich bio-fertilizer.