Watermark > Winter 2001 > Association News

Association News

• Dear Friends Pass On
• Confined Space Entry Course Makes its Debut
• Victoria Receives High Marks for Safe Drinking Water
• New Environmental Assessment Unit to Assess Health Hazards to Water
• New Marine Vessel Wastewater Committee Formed
• BCWWA Bursary Awards Presentation at OUC
• AWWA BC Section Member Listings
• Call For Donations For Water For People Auction

 

Dear Friends Pass On

It is with extreme regret that we wish to inform our members of the untimely passing of two past presidents of the BC Water & Waste Association: Alec “Robbie” Robinson (President in 1974) and Hans Krause (President in 1985).

Robbie, as he was fondly known by his friends and colleagues, was just three months short of his 100th birthday. One of the original founders of BCWWA, Robbie, through his company, Sealand Sales, had a long and distinguished career in pollution control, supplying effluent treatment plants to BC Pulp Mills. A veteran of both World Wars, Robbie was the 1999 Government of Canada recipient of the Queens Commemorative Certificate and the 80th armistice 1918 Lapel Pin. One of his personal traditions, according to friends, was standing on his head on every birthday he observed until his 90th birthday. birthday. Robbie will be remembered with love and greatly missed by family and friends including many in the BC Water and Waste Association.

Hans Krause was a leading figure in BCWWA in the 1980s and served as Association President in 1985. Hans was a strong voice for the operators and for getting them more involved in the Association. He was highly active in the BCWWA operator’s School and was able to see the bigger picture in terms of the School and the overall Association. Hans worked hard to forge closer ties between the school and the Association – and that perseverance has paid off with the status of operators in the BCWWA now. Hans was always a man with a sense of purpose and brought that energy to the BCWWA. He was a kind, loyal, sensitive and friendly man – well liked by all. He will be deeply missed by all, but his contribution will endure.

Confined Space Entry Course Makes its Debut

BCWWA is pleased to introduce a new course, Confined Space Entry. This two-day course is designed for managers, supervisors, and employees who manage or work with confined space entry.

The course will cover a range of issues including: identifying confined spaces, confined space hazards, lock out procedures, atmospheric testing, ventilation, personal protective equipment and rescue procedures. There will be 1 1/2 days of classroom instruction and 1/2 day of on site training.

Bill Fraser of WR Fraser Associates will teach the course. Bill developed this specialized course and has an excellent record of training and instructing the course.

Two Confined Space courses were held in the Lower Mainland in late November. If you are interested in enrolling in future Confined space entry courses, please contact Diana Dempsey at BCWWA (tel. # 1 877- 250-2698). The course enrollment is limited to 15 attendees. The location of future courses will be determined upon receipt of sufficient registrations.

BCWWA Confined Space Training

Who Should Attend: Managers, Supervisors, Employees involved with Confined Spaces What will be Taught: Confined Space, Hazards of Confined spaces, Lock out, Atmospheric Testing, Ventilation, Personal Protective Equipment, and Rescue Procedures.

Course Supplements: The course is supplemented by videos, student manuals of course materials, and WCB Regulation books for each student. Elements of the course may be omitted or supplemented depending on student knowledge, are of responsibility, and time allotted.

Cancellation Policy: Refunds will be given for cancellations received in writing seven days before the start date subject to deduction of an administration fee of $50.00 plus GST for a total of $53.50. Otherwise, refunds will not be given, however, a student substitution is welcome at all times.

Location: To Be Arranged

Dates: To Be Arranged

Time: 8:00 am – 4:30 pm each day

Cost: $350.00 + GST = $374.50

[See the pdf version of Winter 2001 Watermark for the course registration form.]

Victoria Receives High Marks for Safe Drinking Water

An international panel of water quality experts says the Capital Regional District is blessed with high-quality drinking water and is doing the right things to keep it safe. The CRD Regional Water Supply Commission requested the review of how well its water department is monitoring and protecting Greater Victoria's water quality as part of the implementation of its Strategic Plan for Water Management.

"Panel members confirmed that we have excellent water quality, and that we have the right plans and procedures in place to maintain this high quality," said Nils Jensen, Chair of the Regional Water Supply Commission. "They complimented the water department for seeking out a variety of independent views to ensure its watershed management and protection plans are the best possible."

"The panel members made several excellent comments and recommendations, which will allow the CRD Water Department to improve their existing monitoring programs and to prepare for the potential water quality implications of the Expansion of Sooke Reservoir,"said Dr. Asit Mazumder, Chair of Environmental Management of Drinking Water, Department of Biology, at the University of Victoria.

One panel member said a lot of work has gone into the region's water policy and procedure manuals, and they should be used as models for other communities. The peer review panel was chaired by the University of Victoria's Dr. Asit Mazumder, an expert in environmental management of drinking water, and included four experts in water quality research — two from the United States, one from Australia and one from British Columbia. They were given detailed information about how the region manages water quality and protection, and each offered views and advice.

Among other things, the panel members supported current plans to raise the Sooke Dam next year to increase the capacity of the main reservoir. They suggested the increased volume might improve water quality, and noted that careful site preparation meant water quality should not be affected. The non-Canadian members were intrigued by the fact that the CRD owns its entire watershed and is therefore better able to manage it. One member said the region does not charge enough for water for users to appreciate its value.

New Environmental Assessment Unit to Assess Health Hazards to Water

Health Canada recently announced that it will develop regulations that will require assessment of the environmental risks posed by pharmaceuticals, food additives, cosmetics and other products regulated under the Food and Drugs Act. Such products are currently only required to meet certain health and safety criteria, but Health Canada wants to develop regulations within two years to also assess risks they may pose through environmental exposure, including via drinking water.

To that end, Health Canada will establish an expert panel to help develop the regulations and determine appropriate research needs. It will also join with Environment Canada to create an Environmental Assessment Unit to conduct the assessments. Products on the market prior to Sept. 14 will be assessed under the new regulations, while companies seeking to import or make new products are required to provide Environment Canada with health and environmental risk information. Health Canada added that it will take immediate action if, during the regulatory development process, any product is found to pose a health or environmental risk.

New Marine Vessel Wastewater Committee Formed: Rob Hamilton Accepts Chair

Following approval by the BCWWA Board of Directors at their October 22nd meeting, a new technical committee, the Marine Vessel Wastewater Committee was formed. The committee will focus on providing technical expertise on marine sanitation devices, testing methodologies and discharge standards. Jack Bryden, TPC Co-Chair, said that he “hoped that the committee will attract membership with expertise ranging from installing holding tanks in small pleasure craft to complex treatment systems in cruise ships.”

The new Chair of the Marine Vessel Wastewater Committee is Rob Hamilton BSc, CPE. Rob Hamilton has been the Environmental Coordinator for BC Ferries for the last 11 years. He has been responsible for both environmental compliance and improved environmental performance. In recent years he has committed lot of time to wastewater management of BC ferries vessels. Ferries have led the way by employing state of the art Hydroxyl systems. By the end of next year at least 13 new systems will have been installed.

BCWWA Bursary Awards Presentation at OUC

On October 31st, Don Degen, Treasurer of BCWWA presented Water Quality Technology Bursary awards to Mark Hayes and to Sanjeev Mudaliar at a special ceremony at North Kelowna Campus. The worthy recipients, each received a $500 bursary towards their study program in Water Quality Technology at Okanagan University College. BCWWA has, for many years, provided bursaries to OUC and to UBC graduate students in order to further their studies in this Water Quality discipline.

AWWA BC Section Member Listings

We wish to apologize to those AWWA members of the BC Section that were inadvertently left out of the BCWWA 2001 Directory. Due to a computer glitch, this listing information was not received by the publisher. BCWWA sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused by this error. In this issue, we are publishing all of the coordinates of those AWWA members of the BC Section that were not included in the Directory issue. Once again, we offer our sincere apologies for this unfortunate situation. [See the pdf version of Winter 2001 Watermark for the listing.]

Call For Donations For Water For People Auction

BCWWA’s WATER For PEOPLE Committee presents the: 5th ANNUAL AUCTION

To be held at the 2002 BCWWA Conference and AGM in Whistler.

All proceeds go to WATER For PEOPLE Canada to fund drinking water and sanitation projects in developing countries.

In order to help us better organize the 2002 Auction we are asking donors to consider pre-registering. If you plan to donate an item to the Auction, please return this form before March 1, 2002. [See the pdf version of Winter 2001 Watermark for the form.]