This year Information Day for our partners was held virtually and was comprised of three different webinars. The first webinar was held on October 22nd and was facilitated by UW NSERC Chair Dr. Peter Huck. Guest speakers were Dr. Steve Hrudey (Professor Emeritus, Analytical & Environmental Toxicology, University of Alberta), and Ian Douglas (Water Quality Engineer, City of Ottawa).
Dr. Huck revisited the Walkerton E. coli outbreak as it has been 20 years since this tragedy occurred. Dr. Hrudey expanded on Canadian and international public health disasters, where he specifically highlighted lessons learned for water utilities. He also provided an overview of the research efforts on the wastewater-based epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2. Mr. Douglas spoke about gaps in our drinking water safety net. As a water quality engineer with the City of Ottawa, he also discussed the implications of COVID-19 for water utility operations.
To find out more about the topics from our first webinar, please click on the link below to view the presentations.
First webinar video presentations
Dr. Peter Huck:
Walkerton – A Brief Summary (starts at 0:26 min)
Dr. Steve E. Hrudey:
Canadian Public Health Disasters - Lessons for Water Utilities from Walkerton (starts at 13:11 min) to COVID-19 (starts at 44:44 min)
Mr. Ian Douglas:
Walkerton Aftermath: Are There Gaps in Our Drinking Water Safety Net (starts at 28:00 min)
Implications of COVID-19 for Water Utility Operations: City of Ottawa Case Study (starts at 57:49 min)
Our second webinar was held on November 5th and was facilitated by Dr. Peter Huck. He also gave the first presentation which was followed by graduate student presentations. Ph.D. Candidate Kirti S. Nemani and M.A.Sc. Candidate Noshin Nawar Reza gave a joint presentation on robustness in drinking water treatment systems, whereas Ph.D. Candidate Hemant Arora talked about manganese removal using biofilters.
Dr. Huck’s presentation in the second webinar was about drinking water treatment processes and the COVID-19 virus. It was based on a survey of available information on this topic by Kimia Aghasadeghi, Water Researcher with the Chair. Dr. Huck expanded on why the presence of the COVID-19 virus in source waters is very unlikely and he also highlighted the effectiveness of conventional drinking water treatment for the inactivation and removal of the COVID-19 virus in the unlikely event of source water contamination. Dr. Huck also provided an overview of different disinfection treatment requirements for inactivation of different pathogens and how the COVID-19 virus compares to pathogens with known resistance to treatment. To access Dr. Huck’s informative talk, please click on the link below to view his presentation.
Dr. Peter Huck - Drinking water treatment processes and the COVID-19 Virus
Finally, the third webinar was held on November 19th and was facilitated by Dr. Sigrid Peldszus, Research Associate Professor at the Chair. The speakers were: Kimia Aghasadeghi, Water Treatment Researcher, Ph.D. Candidate Mahmoud Badawy and M.A.Sc. Candidate Sina Golchi. Kimia talked about the effects of sodium silicates on lead corrosion in distribution systems. Specifically, she elaborated on a pilot scale study that she completed with a Great Lakes water source and excavated pipes where Kimia compared pH adjustment, orthophosphate, and sodium silicate. Mahmoud outlined his PhD research plans about the potential interrelations between orthophosphate addition, chloramine decay, biofilm growth and nitrification in drinking water systems. Last but not least Sina Golchi presented his work related to the removal of microcystin-LR via superfine powdered activated carbon.
Our first virtual Information Day was indeed a success. Thank you to everyone who was part of it, especially to our industry partners and their ongoing support. Also, thank you to our guest speakers and students for all their hard work.
*Picture taken from Region of Waterloo Covid-19 Summary
https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/health-and-wellness/positive-cases-in-waterloo-region.aspx#
