Gimli, Man. – A wetland property along the west shore of Lake Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Gimli is the latest to be purchased by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Harrietsfield, N.S. – A city in Nova Scotia has suggested installing a water pipe system that would cost homeowners $26,000 per household to access clean municipal water after their water was contaminated. Residents are considering other options, including installing a cistern system and wells. Global News reports. | READ MORE

Ottawa – Carleton University researchers have received more than $200,000 in combined funding for work that will help prevent the contamination of ground water and improve the healthy behaviour of Canadians.

Washington, DC – The World Resources Institute's updated Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas finds that 17 countries, which are home to a quarter of the world’s population, face “extremely high” water stress.

The U.S. craft brewing industry is increasingly concerned about the Trump administration’s attempt to deregulate the 1972 Clean Water Act. Sixty breweries filed a brief in July in support of environmental advocates who are fighting the deregulation attempt in a case before the Supreme Court. NBC News reports. | READ MORE

Antigonish, N.S. – Three levels of government have announced funding to support improvements to water and wastewater infrastructure in the municipalities of Antigonish, Colchester and Richmond in Nova Scotia.

Santa Barbara, CA – A new study published in the journal Nature and Sustainability finds water wells are being drilled deeper and deeper since the 1950s and that the practice is an unsustainable stopgap to ground water depletion. UC Santa Barbara's The Current reports. | READ MORE

Eabametoong First Nation, Ont. – A First Nation in northern Ontario has declared a state of emergency after tests showed high levels of chemicals in the water supply that are byproducts of treatment materials like chlorine interacting with naturally occurring compounds. CTV News/The Canadian Press reports. | READ MORE

Shawnigan Lake, B.C. – The B.C. government says contaminated soil in a landfill near Shawnigan Lake, B.C.'s water supply will not be removed, much to the dismay of local residents who are concerned the contaminated soil is "leaching" into underground water supplies. CBC News reports. | READ MORE

Sherwood Park, Alta. – Utility company Epco will add orthophosphate, a lead inhibitor, to drinking water at its two water treatment plants that serve the Edmonton region by the end of 2020. The move was a result of updated guidelines in March for lead content in drinking water by Health Canada. The Sherwood Park - Strathcona County News reports. | READ MORE

Calgary – For three years now, the City of Calgary and Alberta Health Services have issued warnings to those who want to dip, plunge or splash in the Elbow River, but the source of the fecal contamination remains a mystery. The City says the issue is likely a combination of factors, from leaky pipes to ground water. CBC News reports. | READ MORE

Challenging conditions are par for the course for water-well drillers. While one drilling company is restoring non-functioning and abandoned wells near Milan, Italy, with the help of diesel technology, another is using a new angled drilling technique to get water for desperate farmers in Quebec.

When Wellace Johnson incorporated Wellen Boring and Drilling Ltd. in 1975, he based his business on family, integrity and trust. Four decades later, these continue to be the founding principles of the company.

Texas – Operators active in reusing and recycling produced water for fracking in the Permian Basin of Texas offered their experiences and best practices at a conference, while emphasizing the need to protect water resources, writes The Midland Reporter. | READ MORE

A loan program in some municipalities of Nova Scotia provides qualified homeowners with help if their wells run dry.

This column is both hard and easy to write. Hard because I’m looking back on the career of Lewis Hopper, a champion of Canadian water well drilling who is no longer with us. Easy because I’m looking forward to a new generation of the industry – and they are an inspiring bunch.

By now, everyone in the industry probably knows this story, but just in case. In September 2015, in West Vancouver’s expensive, densely urban Kerrisdale neighbourhood, a homeowner contracted a homebuilder who contracted a drilling company to install a geothermal heating system.

Toronto – VersaDrill Canada has worked with Groupe Rouillier and RIDD to produce an Inner Tube Puller for mineral drilling that could potentially have applications for geotechnical, geothermal or core drilling.

You provide high-quality wells and servicing, but are you meeting your customers’ less tangible need for information and peace of mind? We spoke with a ground water educator, established drilling companies and a satisfied would-be customer to get insight into what constitutes great customer service.

Barbados – Barbados stands to gain significantly more foreign exchange from the sale of desalinated water being produced on the island, says the chairman of the company expanding a reverse osmosis plant on the island. The desalination facility is capable of supplying drinking water to about 20 per cent of the population, the Barbados Advocate reports. | READ MORE

West Chester, PA – The Schramm engineering group is upgrading its existing T450 rigs to use a CAT C15 ACERT, Tier 4 compliant engine.

Newport, WA – A third-generation water well driller discusses the ups and downs of the job as well as public perception about the business. The Spokesman-Review reports. | READ MORE

South Jordan, UT – The "Village Drill," a model envisioned by John Renouard and developed by Brigham Young University students, is human-powered and capable of drilling up to 295 feet into the ground – deep enough to reach clean, unpolluted ground water almost anywhere in the world. The Deseret News reports. | READ MORE

Edmonton – A district energy system will replace traditional furnaces, air conditioners and boilers in homes and buildings in an Edmonton neighbourhood and distribute heating and cooling energy between all types of buildings. The City of Edmonton reports. | READ MORE

Vancouver – The biggest building in the province, Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., will get a new heating and cooling system that will include one of the largest geoexchange systems in the country. Richmond News reports. | READ MORE

Vancouver – An Italian company and its two principals are facing four charges each for the breach of a massive aquifer on a residential construction site in Vancouver in September 2015. The breach has cost the city more than $10 million to fix. CBC News reports. | READ MORE

DEEP Earth Energy Production Corp. has begun drilling on the first well for its geothermal power facility, located in southeastern Saskatchewan.

Vancouver – GeoExchangeBC has shared with its members information provided by the B.C. government related to the Water Sustainability Act and regulations that are relevant to the geoexchange industry. GeoExchangeBC reports. | READ MORE

Newport, RI – A ground-source geothermal system has been installed at The Breakers, the former summer home of the Vanderbilt family in Newport, Rhode Island, in order to stabilize humidity and reduce the building’s carbon footprint.

Iran – In a new study of geothermal heat pumps published in The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, systems using ammonia (R717) or n-butane (R600) were found to be more efficient than those employing R22 or R134, as well as more economical. Hydrocarbons21 reports. | READ MORE

Irving, TX – The Plastics Pipe Institute Inc. has created two groups as part of its Building and Construction Division: the Polypropylene Pressure Pipe Steering Committee and the Geothermal Steering Committee.

Moncton, N.B. – The federal government will invest almost $51 million to help New Brunswickers make energy-efficient upgrades to their homes, businesses, and industrial operations.

Montreal – The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition and its members welcomed the news that New Brunswick Power has released a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives including for GeoExchange (a.k.a. geothermal heat pump) technology.

Peterborough, Ont. – Fleming College will install a new geothermal heating and cooling system at its Sutherland Campus to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions thanks to funding from the provincial government.

Montreal –­ The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition welcomed the news that the Quebec government will continue its RénoClimat incentive program through to 2021.

WSP Canada Group Ltd. has won a prestigious award from the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-British Columbia for its work in developing an innovative solution for safe water in remote communities. Journal of Commerce reports. | READ MORE

SkyTEM has mapped 1,000,000 kilometres of the Earth – equivalent to almost 25 trips around the world – and collected and delivered more than one million kilometres of airborne electromagnetic data.

No well driller wants to encounter a water well that produces gas. Besides the danger associated with gas production, which may be flammable or explosive, problems can also arise with gas locking of pumps and/or pressure tanks.

Iowa – University of Iowa researchers have found that a state-funded program for testing private wells suffers from “severe underutilization." In recent years counties have left unspent as much as 55 per cent of the total funding allocated each year for counties to test residents’ wells for certain kinds of contaminants. Iowa Public Radio reports. | READ MORE

Saskatoon, Sask. – Drinking water resources must be monitored long-term for potential contamination, not only from fracking but also from conventional oil and gas production, suggests a study published in the journal Groundwater by hydrogeologists from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Arizona. | READ MORE

Beijing – A new study looking at the effect of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan on ground water systems in China is shedding some light on how Earth’s subsurface can be affected by large earthquakes. Earth & Space Science News reports. | READ MORE

A research paper published in Water Resources Research presents a simple model (an equation) that approximates how intermittent water systems (those closed during certain hours) behave, suggests why the method is so common and highlights the challenges of improving such systems. | READ MORE

Researchers at the UI and Iowa Geological Survey developed an interactive database that displays approximately 100,000 private wells across Iowa to inform well-drillers and property managers about geology and water contaminants. The Daily Iowan reports. | READ MORE

Hastings, NB – A team of researchers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is requesting the help of volunteers to test their well water for a program that aims to track water quality across the state. The Hastings Tribune reports. | READ MORE

Ottawa – The Canadian Hydronics Conference will showcase hydronics education, products and systems.

Guelph, Ont. – Two papers by researchers at the G360 Institute for Groundwater Research at the University of Guelph in Ontario, are among the top 20 most read articles of 2017-18 in the journal Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation.

Toronto – Three citizen science water quality monitoring hubs are now testing the water and sharing water quality results with swimmers and boaters on the Great Lakes through Swim Guide, a free app and website. 

Flomatic has released its Heavy Duty Deep Well Check Valve Model 80MDW-VFD for use with variable-frequency drive (VFD) controlled submersible pumps or other conventional pumps.

Merrill Manufacturing Company has announced four new stainless steel insert tees (3/4-inch, 3/4x1 inch, 1”, and 1-1/4 inch) and two new stainless steel insert elbow sizes (3/4-inch and 1x1-1/4 inch).

PolyScience has developed a coliform bath with a temperature accuracy to within 0.07 C to provide reliable results.

A new reference book called The Art of Water Wells by registered professional geologist Marvin F. Glotfelty provides a comprehensive overview of well systems for everyone working in the ground water field.

Flomatic has a new Wafer Style Silent Check Valve that is compatible with VFD controlled pumps in an all 316 stainless steel valve body, stainless steel poppet, seat ring and spring.

Franklin Electric Co. Inc. has introduced the MagForce High Efficiency Motor System in a 60-horsepower model, a product line that offers three distinct models capable of covering pump horsepower ratings from 7.5 to 60.

When Mercedes-Benz entered the Canadian market with the second-generation Sprinter in 2010 (it was sold as a Dodge previously in Canada), the full-size cargo van market in Canada was vastly different than it is today. Ford was selling the E-Series, Nissan had not yet launched the NV in Canada, and the Ram ProMaster was being sold in Europe as the Fiat Ducato.

Biotope-Air is a completely synthetic, biodegradable compressor oil designed for high-performance applications on rotary, screw and piston compressors.

The NivuLevel Mobile is a self-sufficient system that provides power management for reliable level measurements, data logging and convenient data transmission, manufacturer Nivus said in a press release.

Flomatic announces it is in full compliance with the American Iron & Steel (AIS) provisions for affected Federal/State Revolving Fund projects on its Automatic Control Valve product family.

Flomatic has released the Flo-Trol Model CD900, a new constant flow control valve with a stainless steel body.

Standardized procedures in an organized office cut down on lost time and money. In turn, this consistency increases client and employee confidence in a company’s ability to produce reliable work.

I recently wrote about the concept of predictive customer support. Now, we take a slightly different angle with the concept of proactive customer support.

Heading into fall seems a good time to get our offices in order.

Penticton, B.C. – The British Columbia Ground Water Association has announced its 2020 Convention and Trade Show will be held in Penticton, B.C., April 16 to 18, 2020. 

Vancouver – Testing for impairment from cannabis is no “magic bullet”. Rather, effective oversight, worker supervision and having an impairment-management program are key to navigating the post-legal-weed world. This was the message that Tom Brocklehurst, director of prevention practices and quality with WorkSafeBC in Richmond, B.C., delivered at the 2019 West­ern Conference on Safety in Vancouver. OHS Canada reports. | READ MORE

Red Williams Drilling Ltd. provides a range of services, including well drilling, water treatment, water delivery, and pump service, and covers an area of central Vancouver Island that stretches about 300 kilometres from the home base in Parksville.

Toronto – Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks has released an updated guide for municipal councillors to help them understand their responsibilities under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 and provide them with information on how Ontario’s drinking water is safeguarded.

A customer's complaint may not be your fault, but it is an opportunity for your business to shine, writes customer service expert Shep Hyken.

Chilliwack, B.C. – Ninety-four per cent of Canadians currently employed say that workplace health, safety and mental well-being is important when choosing a job, according to an Angus Reid poll commissioned by the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC. 

The Ontario Ground Water Association held its convention and annual general meeting in London, Ont., in March, electing as its new president Matt Wilson.

What does professionalism mean to you?