Groundwater is one of our most important water resources. It provides drinking water for about 50% of the population worldwide and represents 70% of the total water used for irrigation. Despite its importance, groundwater remains one of the most overlooked natural resources. It is literally out of sight. It moves slowly. And the consequences of [...]
As water systems face increasing pressure from climate change, emerging contaminants, aging infrastructure, and rising demand, the need for practical, scalable solutions has never been greater. At Western University, the WesternWater Centre (WWCTR) is responding to these challenges by bringing together researchers, industry partners, government agencies, and communities to advance collaborative, applied water research. Under [...]
On June 9, 2026, the Ontario Water Consortium hosted an Innovation Showcase webinar highlighting recent progress from a collaborative research initiative focused on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Canadian water systems. The project brings together researchers, utilities, and technology providers to improve understanding of PFAS occurrence, transformation, and treatment in drinking water and wastewater [...]
On June 2, 2026, the Ontario Water Consortium hosted an Innovation Showcase webinar highlighting continued progress from the Waste to Chemicals (W2C) Alliance, building on earlier work introduced in 2024 through “Going Beyond Biogas” and a 2025 progress webinar that first shared results from the initiative’s long-term demonstration phase. The latest session focused on how [...]
Wastewater treatment depends on the stability of complex microbial communities that drive biological processes and ensure effective solids separation. At the centre of this system is the balance between filamentous bacteria and floc-forming bacteria within activated sludge. When this balance is disrupted, plants can experience sludge bulking, reduced settling efficiency, and declining treatment performance. Traditionally, [...]
Each spring in Ontario, the thaw tests watershed systems in ways that are often difficult to predict. Snowpack melts, frozen soils shift rapidly into saturation, and river levels rise unevenly across basins. In some watersheds, conditions move from stable to strained within hours. For conservation authorities and municipal operators, these weeks are operationally intense and [...]
Wastewater disinfection is essential for protecting public health and downstream water quality, but conventional control approaches such as flow-pacing struggle to reflect real-world operating conditions. In practice, disinfectant demand varies with changes in hydraulics, water quality, and operational conditions, which are not fully captured by flow alone. This can lead to inefficient dosing, unnecessary chemical [...]
This winter, the Ontario Water Consortium hosted its Innovation Showcase Winter 2026 Series, a three-part webinar program highlighting applied research and collaboration across Ontario’s water sector. Attendees from academia, government, and industry explored strategies to manage trace organic contaminants, monitor fractured bedrock groundwater systems, and mitigate fugitive methane emissions from wastewater treatment plants. The series [...]
Municipal wastewater treatment is under pressure like never before. Flows fluctuate unpredictably, pollutant loads are higher, and communities increasingly demand water reuse solutions. Utilities must maintain consistent treatment performance while reducing energy and chemical use. Traditional membrane systems often struggle under these conditions, particularly when faced with sudden surges or variable solids content. Fibracast's FibrePlate [...]
In the industrial innovation lifecycle, there is a notorious gap between a successful lab experiment and a market-ready product. This "Valley of Death" is the stage where many promising clean-tech innovations fail due to the logistical, technical, and financial hurdles of scaling up. For IntensiCarb™, a revolutionary vacuum-enhanced anaerobic digestion technology, navigating this gap required [...]
