C3 Water is pleased to announce that its team has been awarded the contract to undertake the City of Guelph 2019 Water and Wastewater Master Plan (WWSMP). The WWSMP is intended to identify capacity constraints and provide long-term servicing strategies to support planned growth.
The C3 Water team developed a workplan bringing a unique approach to master planning. The goal of the WWSMP is to provide smart solutions that incorporate local knowledge while also harnessing recent innovation and emerging technologies.
The C3 Water team brings a local and deep-rooted understanding of the City’s water system through their delivery of a wide range of City infrastructure planning, modelling, and design projects. The approach will be customized to Guelph’s unique needs and integrated with previous and ongoing initiatives to develop unified short-term and long-term goals.
The team’s approach also reflects a thorough understanding of how the industry is evolving through technology advancements and changing water usage trends. It is no longer an expectation that water demands will continually increase with population increase. Water conservation and efficiency measures, especially in Guelph, have reduced total per capita water consumption and decreased peak water usage, providing opportunities within the existing water distribution and wastewater collection systems. Climate change is also impacting the full water cycle from source protection to sewer infiltration. Over sizing systems with larger and more infrastructure is now viewed as a dated practice due to water quality impacts, operational issues and capital spending limitations. Redundancy, resilience, correct sizing, maintenance and safety of systems have now become key drivers.
To continue as leaders, it is important that the City continue to foster innovation and incorporate new technology. Readily available real-time information has already provided a better understanding of system performance and helped identify infrastructure needs as well as operational changes to better manage the system. Advanced modelling and calibration software are continually evolving and provide opportunities for the City to better plan and manage systems.
Another key criterion for smart solutions is that they be cost-effective. The province’s mandate to establish full cost recovery has challenged municipalities to look closely at the condition of assets to manage the life cycle of water and wastewater infrastructure. The WWSMP will utilize the City’s recent asset management initiatives and incorporate realistic cost analysis to develop preferred alternatives.
The ultimate goal of master planning is to serve the community and continue to build a resilient and growing City. Engaging the community and key stakeholders early in the process is essential for building a plan that improves the well-being of those who rely on the City’s water and wastewater services. A focus of this WWSMP is to provide the City with new tools that will aid in the development of an Infrastructure Plan while also providing long term strategies to provide the City with continued feedback on system performance to help manage the systems.
Lead Consultant: C3 Water Inc.
Sub-Consultants: Stantec Inc., Matrado Ltd., Watermark Solutions Ltd.