- DRAINS CONTRACT IS WASHED AWAY
- CITY FACES $30 MILLION SEWER BILL
- A REAL ENVIRONMENT MINISTER?
- TALK: "FROM BARNACLES TO BIRDERS: THE OGDEN POINT BREAKWATER", UVIC, 11 JAN
- TALK: "EFFECTS OF GLOBAL & LOCAL CHANGE ON STRAIT OF GEORGIA", UVIC, 14 JAN- DETERMINATION OF THE INTERNAL CHEMICAL ENERGY OF WASTEWATER
---------------------------
DRAINS CONTRACT IS WASHED AWAY
Bill Cleverley
Times Colonist
January 06, 2011
Click here to send letter to Times Colonist
From restaurant grease to motor oil, David Rogers has stopped lots of nasty stuff from being washed down Victoria's storm drains.
As president of B.C. Hazmat Management Ltd., his company has been responsible for making sure the city's storm water bylaw is obeyed.
But that has come to an end after the city opted not to extend his company's contract for another year. Rogers worries that the city is putting the bottom line ahead of the environment.
"With the abandonment of the project, the city is sending a message that may lead to further contamination of the City of Victoria's storm water system and its receiving environment: Cecelia Creek, the Gorge waterway and surrounding marine environment," Rogers said in a letter to the city council.
Since 2007, B.C. Hazmat has worked with 3,600 property owners, management companies and businesses to ensure they were meeting storm water codes of practice, Rogers said. But last month, the company was notified by the city its contract, worth about $100,000 a year for the past two years, will not be extended due to reallocation of the capital budget.
"I can see why they would pick this kind of project [to cut] because there's no real physical [structure loss] that you'd see -- other than the clean harbour which has taken us three years to do," Rogers said in an interview.
B.C. Hazmat's work with the storm water compliance project has made a huge difference to the quality of the Victoria shoreline, he said.
"Now, when it rains, tourists and residents alike no longer see the large oily rainbows in the Inner Harbour or on the Gorge Waterway. It is now rare that the City of Victoria staff are called to respond to spills and release of contaminants into the storm water system, as was the norm in the past."
City spokeswoman Katie Josephson said storm water management continues to be a priority and the city will continue to monitor the bylaw using existing staff. "The contract work was completed and we will continue to monitor the bylaw but have the ability to do it in-house. Continuing to contract the work is not necessary and it does result in a budget savings within the capital budget for this work," Josephson said in an email.
Rogers doesn't know how that will be possible because the reason it was contracted out in the first place was because city staff didn't have the time.
He said he was told by city staff they needed to free funds in the capital budget for the bridge replacement, but Josephson said that is not the case.
bcleverley@timescolonist.com
---------------------------------------------
Victoria will have to spend about $30 million over the next 15 years to repair or replace aging sanitary sewer pipes, city staff say.
Most of the system was built before 1920. A recent analysis has identified six major trunk systems flowing into the Clover Point outfall that are currently undersized and one lift station at capacity. Estimated flows for 2026 and 2056 project an additional four undersized trunk systems.
The only way to address the need for additional capacity is to replace existing pipes with larger ones or to twin some pipes, the report says.
A replacement program is estimated to cost about $2 million a year over the next 15 years. City staff have budgeted $1.5 million for the project and are suggesting the additional $500,000 a year could be found by increasing the annual sewage utility fee by eight per cent, or about $9.50 per household.
But Coun. Philippe Lucas, who chairs the environment and infrastructure committee, thinks the increase might be reduced by stretching out the pipe replacement schedule to 20 years, while stepping up water-conservation efforts and combating inflow and infiltration (I&I) that plague the system.
Inflow is rainwater that enters the sanitary sewer through holes in manhole covers, catch basins or improper service connections. Infiltration is groundwater that seeps into the sanitary sewer system through cracks or joints in the sanitary sewer pipes and manholes.
"I am concerned about this increase in our costs for sewage," Lucas said.
"I'm sure most of the families in our region are looking at ways to cut costs. For example, I would like to know what happens if we stretch out the pipe twinning project over 20 years instead of 15 years. I'd like to know what the impact would be on our sewage rates under that scenario."
The staff report says reducing I&I is key to addressing capacity challenges in the system.
"I think that I&I is where we really need to focus our attention right now. I have been a constant and consistent champion of subsidizing rain barrels either regionally through the CRD or municipally through the city of Victoria," said Lucas, who sits on the Capital Regional District core area liquid waste management committee.
"We have studies in the CRD that have suggested there could be potentially a one per cent or more reduction in I&I just by implementing rain barrels, Lucas said.
The staff report says that while water conservation in the home should continue to be encouraged, the benefits to the sanitary system are limited because of the high degree of I&I which is unaffected by water conservation.
Victoria is not the only municipality grappling with old underground infrastructure.
In Oak Bay, the inflow and infiltration is 35 times greater than usually allowed, largely due to a combined sewer and stormwater system in the Uplands. Oak Bay has proposed spending $10 million over 50 years to install new pipes.
bcleverley@timescolonist.com
A REAL ENVIRONMENT MINISTER?
Times Colonist, from
Ottawa Citizen
January 06, 2011
Click here to send letter to Times Colonist
CITY FACES $30 MILLION SEWER BILL
City of Victoria staff recommend replacement of aging, undersized pipes over the next 15 years
Bill Cleverley
Times Colonist
January 06, 2011
Click here to send letter to Times Colonist
City of Victoria staff recommend replacement of aging, undersized pipes over the next 15 years
Bill Cleverley
Times Colonist
January 06, 2011
Click here to send letter to Times Colonist
Victoria will have to spend about $30 million over the next 15 years to repair or replace aging sanitary sewer pipes, city staff say.
Most of the system was built before 1920. A recent analysis has identified six major trunk systems flowing into the Clover Point outfall that are currently undersized and one lift station at capacity. Estimated flows for 2026 and 2056 project an additional four undersized trunk systems.
The only way to address the need for additional capacity is to replace existing pipes with larger ones or to twin some pipes, the report says.
A replacement program is estimated to cost about $2 million a year over the next 15 years. City staff have budgeted $1.5 million for the project and are suggesting the additional $500,000 a year could be found by increasing the annual sewage utility fee by eight per cent, or about $9.50 per household.
But Coun. Philippe Lucas, who chairs the environment and infrastructure committee, thinks the increase might be reduced by stretching out the pipe replacement schedule to 20 years, while stepping up water-conservation efforts and combating inflow and infiltration (I&I) that plague the system.
Inflow is rainwater that enters the sanitary sewer through holes in manhole covers, catch basins or improper service connections. Infiltration is groundwater that seeps into the sanitary sewer system through cracks or joints in the sanitary sewer pipes and manholes.
"I am concerned about this increase in our costs for sewage," Lucas said.
"I'm sure most of the families in our region are looking at ways to cut costs. For example, I would like to know what happens if we stretch out the pipe twinning project over 20 years instead of 15 years. I'd like to know what the impact would be on our sewage rates under that scenario."
The staff report says reducing I&I is key to addressing capacity challenges in the system.
"I think that I&I is where we really need to focus our attention right now. I have been a constant and consistent champion of subsidizing rain barrels either regionally through the CRD or municipally through the city of Victoria," said Lucas, who sits on the Capital Regional District core area liquid waste management committee.
"We have studies in the CRD that have suggested there could be potentially a one per cent or more reduction in I&I just by implementing rain barrels, Lucas said.
The staff report says that while water conservation in the home should continue to be encouraged, the benefits to the sanitary system are limited because of the high degree of I&I which is unaffected by water conservation.
Victoria is not the only municipality grappling with old underground infrastructure.
In Oak Bay, the inflow and infiltration is 35 times greater than usually allowed, largely due to a combined sewer and stormwater system in the Uplands. Oak Bay has proposed spending $10 million over 50 years to install new pipes.
bcleverley@timescolonist.com
---------------------------
Times Colonist, from
Ottawa Citizen
January 06, 2011
Click here to send letter to Times Colonist
Being environment minister in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is either a key portfolio or a job the Maytag repairman might find dull, depending on your perspective.
Critics would insist environment is a department the Conservative government has steadily turned into the Ministry of Nothing -- or at least the Ministry of Making Vague Promises While Actually Doing Very Little -- especially when it comes to climate change. We hope the swearing in of former television broadcaster Peter Kent as environment minister brings a new, more concrete focus for the government on what should be one of its most important portfolios.
Kent's appointment was the most significant outcome of Tuesday's minor cabinet shuffle. While he is not a veteran politician, Kent has largely distinguished himself as engaged and able in his role as minister of state for foreign affairs. In a fairly shallow pool of potential cabinet ministers, his seems to have been a good choice.
His challenge now is to convince Canadians, and the world, that Canada is serious about climate change. Canada's evolving reputation as an international laughingstock when it comes to the environment may not be entirely fair, but it is up to the government to counter it by spelling out clearly what is being done. Its policy of evasion and avoidance on many environmental issues is damaging to more than Canada's reputation.
Among the first items on Kent's desk will be President Barack Obama's announcement that the U.S. will impose new emissions rules on power plants and refineries. In the past, the federal government has said it would harmonize its environmental policy with the U.S., but John Baird, who held the portfolio until Tuesday, said Canada would not adopt similar rules. Instead, he said, Canada would broadly match the U.S. approach.
What exactly that means is not clear, which creates confusion for Canadians and for Canadian industry. Kent's first order of business will be to convince Canadians that the environment matters to the federal government and, if so, what it is doing about it.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2011
Copyright © 2011 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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ARESST: I've heard allegations from one scuba diver that he has seen evidence of faeces during his Ogden Point dives and he rejects any possibility that the faeces may come from nearby storm drains rather than the long ocean outfall.
Victoria Natural History Society Presentation
11 January, 7:30pm
UVic, FRASER Building, Room 159
The Breakwater is an easily accessible microcosm of the astonishing marine biodiversity found on the southwest coast of B.C.
All 1,700 hectares of Victoria Harbour, including Ogden Point, were designated a Migratory Bird Sanctuary in 1923; the roughly
triangular area between the breakwater, Holland Point and the outer edge of Brotchie Ledge is a protected area.
Anny and Val Schaefer will share stories and photos of the cultural and natural assets over, under, and beneath this James
Bay landmark.
Everyone is welcome
Related Website http://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/
Location FRASER BUILDING 159
Times19:30:00 to 21:30:00
Pricing Free
SponsorJennifer Ellenton
jellenton@shaw.ca
Related Website http://www.vicnhs.bc.ca/
Location FRASER BUILDING 159
Times19:30:00 to 21:30:00
Pricing Free
SponsorJennifer Ellenton
jellenton@shaw.ca
-------------------
TALK: "EFFECTS OF GLOBAL & LOCAL CHANGE ON STRAIT OF GEORGIA", UVIC, 14 JAN
E. S. Heidrich*, T. P. Curtis, and J. DolfingUVic Geography Colloquium: "Effects of global and local change on the Strait of Georgia" Dr. Sophia Johannessen, Institute of Ocean Sciences(http://www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sdb-bds/profile-profil. do?id=1215&lang=eng) 2011-01-14 SOCIAL SCIENCES & MATHEMATICS, Room B215
University of Victoria Location map: http://www.uvic.ca/buildings/14:45:00 to 16:00:00 Free and open to the public Sponsor Geography Department 2507217327geoginfo@uvic.ca
------------------------DETERMINATION OF THE INTERNAL CHEMICAL ENERGY OF WASTEWATEREnvironmental Science and Technology
9 December 2010
The wastewater industry is facing a paradigm shift, learning to view domestic wastewater not as a waste stream which needs to be disposed of but as a resource from which to generate energy. The extent of that resource is a strategically important question. The only previous published measurement of the internal chemical energy of wastewater measured 6.3 kJ/L. It has long been assumed that the energy content in wastewater relates directly to chemical oxygen demand (COD). However there is no standard relationship between COD and energy content.
In this study a new methodology of preparing samples for measuring the internal chemical energy in wastewater is developed, and an analysis is made between this and the COD measurements taken. The mixed wastewater examined, using freeze-drying of samples to minimize loss of volatiles, had 16.8 kJ/L, while the domestic wastewater tested had 7.6 kJ/L nearly 20% higher than previously estimated. The size of the resource that wastewater presents is clearly both complex and variable but is likely to be significantly greater than previously thought. A systematic evaluation of the energy contained in wastewaters is warranted.
Full text article in HTML: http://pubs.acs.org/
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END.
