[Re]Engineering water treatment systems for small communities

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Many communities, especially small, remote and First Nation communities, cannot provide effective water treatment because of financial and technical constraints. For these communities, the costs per capita for water treatment systems, and in particular the operating costs, can be greater than 10 times the costs in urban centres [2]. Even when sufficient capital is available, the greatest challenge is generally that these communities do not have access to technical personnel with the skills necessary to effectively operate conventional water treatment systems. This lack of capacity translates into more than 1000 boil water advisories in small communities across Canada at any time. First Nations are particularly impacted, with over 170 communities on boil water advisories, many of which have been in place for more than 10 years [3]. The Federal Government has pledged over $2 billion in additional funds over the coming years to address water quality challenges in First Nation communities alone. Although this will help alleviate financial constraints in First Nation communities, it will not address the challenges faced by other small/remote communities, or the challenges associated with the need for and the availability (and retention) of operators with advanced skills. Novel technologies that are effective, inexpensive, and most importantly, simple to operate (i.e. do not require highly skilled operators) are needed to address water treatment challenges in small/remote communities.***The proposed Discovery Program (Program) focuses on the development of two novel technologies that have demonstrated substantial potential at addressing the needs of many small/remote communities: Biological Ion Exchange (BIEX) and Passive Membranes (PMs). These technologies are particularly promising as these are effective, simple (only minimal skill or attention to operate) and could substantially change water treatment practices within a short timeline (technologies are expected to be ready for commercialization by the end of the Program timeline, or soon thereafter).***The main outcomes from the Program will be: 1) simple technologies that can be adopted by small and remote communities to provide high quality water to its residents; and 2) HQP with the skills necessary to address water quality and treatment challenges in Canada and internationally over the decades to come.