After nearly a decade away, Dr. Maricor Arlos returned to the University of Waterloo in 2024, not to retrace her steps but to reshape the path forward. A Waterloo graduate three times over, Arlos had spent years conducting research in Switzerland and Alberta, gaining a sharper, more global perspective on water management, stakeholder priorities, and [...]
This July, the Ontario Water Consortium hosted its Innovation Showcase Summer Series, a three-part webinar program highlighting applied research and emerging technologies across Ontario’s water sector. With close to 200 registrants, the series convened municipal leaders, researchers, engineers, and technology developers around practical solutions to the complex challenges facing water infrastructure, operations, and climate resilience. [...]
On June 5, 2025, the Ontario Water Consortium (OWC) hosted the second in a series of webinars exploring the progress of a major collaborative research initiative focused on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Canadian water systems. Co-led by Professor Scott Hopkins (University of Waterloo) and Professor Franco Berruti (Western University), the project exemplifies how [...]
In October 2024, the Ontario Water Consortium published “Going Beyond Biogas”, introducing the Waste to Chemicals Alliance - a multi-partner collaboration exploring how anaerobic digestion (AD) can evolve from a conventional energy recovery tool into a platform for producing high-value chemicals from organic waste. On June 10, 2025, OWC hosted the Alliance’s first public webinar [...]
Ontario’s greenhouse sector, anchored in Essex County, is a global leader in greenhouse vegetable production. Yet with this success comes increasing responsibility. On March 27, 2025, the Ontario Water Consortium (OWC), in partnership with the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG), University of Windsor Agriculture UWindsor (AgUWin), and the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER), [...]
Waterborne pathogens pose significant risks to public health, from drinking water contamination to recreational waterborne diseases. Addressing these risks requires cutting-edge research and strong industry partnerships, precisely what Dr. David McCarthy, the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Waterborne Pathogens: Surveillance, Prediction, and Mitigation at the University of Guelph, aims to accomplish. With a distinguished [...]
Municipal water and wastewater systems are fundamental to our cities, crucial for public health, environmental sustainability, and economic prosperity. However, these systems face growing challenges from aging infrastructure, climate change, cyber threats, and evolving regulatory environments. To combat the increasing vulnerabilities and threats against our already fragile systems, we require an innovative and strategic approach [...]
The Ontario Water Consortium (OWC) is excited to announce the submission of a proposal for funding to establish the Innovating Water for Ontario’s Growth (IWOG) program. This initiative seeks to tackle critical challenges in water and wastewater infrastructure driven by rapid urbanization and industrial demands, aiming to enhance water management and support sustainable development across [...]
The Ontario Water Consortium’s Water Industry Growth (WIG) Program has left a lasting impact on Ontario’s water innovation sector, driving technological advancements and global competitiveness. The WIG Program supported 17 company-led projects focused on technology advancement, many involving academic, municipal, and other sector partners. The success of the WIG program reflects a collaborative commitment to [...]
Anaerobic digestion can be used to digest organics from all kinds of sources: wastewater sludge, livestock manure, food waste and more. And the technology is simple. Just create an oxygen-free environment where naturally occurring microbes can flourish and let them munch away. Today, most anaerobic digestion is optimized to produce methane, which can be captured [...]
