Research partnerships highlight the ongoing impact of forWater

From coast to coast, across Canada, ongoing research collaborations continue to advance forWater partner priorities.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta is working with forWater students and researchers to investigate the continued impacts of the 2016 Horse River wildfire on source water quality and drinking water treatment needs. As cyanobacteria have been detected each summer since the fire and carbon character is transforming in the reservoir, reservoir management and treatment response options are being investigated. 
​
Halifax Water and the province of Nova Scotia more broadly saw unprecedented wildfires this summer, which included the Tantallon and Hammonds Plains, which occurred in close proximity to Pockwock Lake. forWater researchers met with Halifax Water to provide guidance regarding water, sediment, and ash sampling to assess potential short- and longer-term water quality and treatability impacts of the wildfires.

The Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island is engaged with forWater lab personnel and researchers in baseline characterization of water quality and associated treatability in their watershed. Establishing knowledge about baseline water quality is essential to recognizing change in systems and ensuring resiliency in water treatment.

The City of Calgary is working with forWater researchers to understand the occurrence of taste and odour compounds (specifically geosmin) that are becoming increasingly problematic in their source water and also are running pilot-scale filtration investigations to identify strategies for increased performance and resilience during treatment. This work directly contributes to identifying strategies for balancing source water protection, treatment process optimization, and treatment technology investment decisions.