Using Pilot Testing to Address Drinking Water Concerns in First Nations Communities
The Walkerton Clean Water Centre has completed 13 pilot testing projects with First Nations clients to empower them to improve their drinking water
Since 2017 the Walkerton Clean Water Centre (WCWC) has completed 13 pilot testing projects to help First Nations communities improve the quality of their drinking water, and in some cases, help lift the long-term drinking water advisories that have been in place for many years.
Work on a Pilot Testing Project with the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation
First Nations clients have reached out to WCWC for help with pilot testing projects — small-scale and larger practical studies to evaluate the feasibility or performance of water treatment strategies and their effects on water quality. Pilot testing projects can address health-based, operational, or aesthetic water quality parameters. These projects can be completed at a client’s site or at the Technology Demonstration Facility in Walkerton, Ontario.
WCWC’s state-of-the-art Technology Demonstration Facility features the latest conventional and advanced water treatment and control technologies, Some of the pilot treatment units available include: dissolved air flotation; ultrafiltration; nanofiltration; reverse osmosis; fixed bed and magnetic ion exchange; slow sand filtration; ozone; ultraviolet light; and advanced oxidation processes.
WCWC provides clients with preliminary data throughout each project and once the project is complete, a detailed report, which is also available on WCWC’s Drinking Water Resource Library at DrinkingWaterResourceLibrary.ca is published. Clients may use the project results with engineering consultants in the selection and design of appropriate treatment systems.
WCWC has years of pilot testing experience in areas such as disinfection by-products (DBPs), iron and manganese treatment, natural organic matter, arsenic and coagulation. To learn more about how WCWC’s pilot testing services can help you optimize your water system, please visit wcwc.ca/services/pilot-testing/ or contact us at 866-515-0550.