Reshaping Urban Water Management

Project overview

Major investments are urgently required to upgrade and secure urban water systems and wastewater systems in particular, across Canada and globally, creating a potential opportunity moment for synergy with innovative approaches. Large centralized systems have dominated so far, the development of municipal water infrastructure, while mall-scale, fully decentralized (on-site) systems, like septic tanks, are typically found to manage wastewater in low-density areas. Both extremes of the spectrum present challenges in terms of resilience and sustainability. Hybrid wastewater systems, i.e., that integrate features from both centralized and decentralized facilities, are proposed to improve the sustainability and efficiency of wastewater management. From a wastewater management standpoint, smaller-scale collection and treatment can improve the management and recovery of nutrients and energy and reduce contamination of water bodies. This research project combines knowledge from domain of decentralized, smaller-scale wastewater treatment quality, environmental economics and integrated urban water management.

The collaboration of researchers with the selected municipality provides a unique opportunity for in-depth dialogue and engagement with urban water managers so that novel approaches can be pioneered by audacious decision makers and leaders in the industry. This can lead to a paradigm shift in urban water management in the Canadian context. During the research project, researchers will also engage with ministries and municipal networking organizations to develop technical support, dissemination mechanisms and training events with municipalities to expand the use of the decision-support tools developed for the case study city.

The outcome of the project will directly inform and support decision-making as whether to upgrade and increase the capacity of centralized systems or break path-dependency barriers to create more hybrid systems.