Features Sustainability Water Issues
Two-show roundup

This year, the Alberta Water Well Drilling Association (AWWDA) and the Ontario Ground Water Association (OGWA) held their spring trade shows and annual general meetings on overlapping dates.

This year, the Alberta Water Well Drilling Association (AWWDA) and the
Ontario Ground Water Association (OGWA) held their spring trade shows
and annual general meetings on overlapping dates. The Alberta show
was held at the Sheraton hotel in Red Deer from April 10 to 12, and the
Ontario show, playfully named Drillapalooza, was hosted at Deerhurst
Resort in Huntsville from April 11 to 13.

Alberta

Dave Hanson of Design Technologies gave two technical sessions at the AWWDA show.

The Alberta
trade show had 38 booths, drilling rigs, a water truck and a mud puppy
on display. Two-hundred-and-sixty-two people attended the show, with 156
showing up for the Thursday pub night, shared Carol Larson, secretary
for the AWWDA.

The Sheraton in Red Deer was a new location for the
show and AGM, which saw the largest turnout in a number of years, said
Larson. The convention started with a wine and cheese reception on
Wednesday evening. Thursday morning kicked off with the trade show, and
Robert Summers presented a very informative talk on water projects in
Mali during the luncheon. Afterwards, people could attend the first of
two technical sessions presented by Dave Hanson of Design Technologies.

At
the AGM, the usual division reports were presented and the new board
was elected for the coming year. Considerable time was spent discussing
the Canadian Ground Water Association (CGWA) loss in arbitration to the
Canadian GeoExchange Coalition (CGC) (see page 6 for more details).

Friday
started out with another technical session by Dave Hanson, followed by a
luncheon and very interesting slide presentation from AWWDA president
Chris Gerritsen that detailed his extensive travels around the globe.
The Friday evening banquet wrapped up the conference. The Maurice Lewis
Memorial Award was presented to Dylan Schmalzbauer and Jordan Lepper as
they tied for the highest academic marks in school. The “Best Looking
Booth Award” went (again) to Dynamic Supply.

Ontario

Michael Miller and Robert Martini are all smiles in the CanPipe booth at the Ontario show.
From left to right, Pedro Friesen, Patrick Abram and Chris Crowell of Wellmaster Pipe & Supply.

The
Ontario show pulled in 31 exhibitors and a hopping trade show opening
with the Beer! Wings! & Other Things! networking event. The trade
show resumed Friday morning, followed by division meetings and AGM in
the afternoon. There was one board shuffle in the Drillers Division,
with Chris Gerritsen moving to the pump supply division and Paul Conrad
of Conrad Well Drilling nominated to take his place.

During the AGM,
CGWA president Kevin Constable faced extensive questioning as he told
the story of the national association’s lengthy battle with the CGC (see
story on page 6).

Friday night kicked off with a Monte Carlo dinner
and casino themed event, where people were given funny money chips to
play table games for prizes. Saturday was dedicated to technical
sessions. Ellaline Davies from Safety Works Consulting gave a seminar on
the cost of injuries and workplace harassment. Brian Barron from the
Ministry of Labour spoke on operator requirements with regards to
training and records, as well as everyone’s responsibilities with
regulations. Terry Carter and Jordan Clarke from the Ministry of Natural
Resources discussed updates to Ontario records and the geology of
southern Ontario. Phil Graves and Kathleen Boose gave a presentation on
costing your business and setting rates.

Drillapalooza was capped off
with the Saturday night president’s dinner and awards. The theme was
Puttin’ on the Ritz and featured a “not so silent auction.”

Booth
conversations turned to topics of lead-free requirements, homeowners
getting savvier, water safety systems that focus on preventing surface
water infiltration, new apps for pumps, wastewater treatment training,
and variable speed “everything.”

Franklin Electric’s solar powered
pump system was onsite for the first time in Canada, shared Sean Welsh,
national sales manager – Canada commercial. Franklin also has a line of
motor controls called Cerus that is coming to Canada, he added. Grundfos
CU331SP variable drive for submersible pumps was release in April. The
drive comes in three versions: two horsepower, three horsepower, and
five horsepower, with a variable drive for each horsepower. Grundfos was
also showcasing its GO Remote pump app.