How CIMA+ Supports the Value of Water by Engineering for People

The infrastructure team at CIMA+ has a keen understanding of the value of water. Our dedicated water professionals deal with issues every day that impact our communities and their relationship with water. We know that providing access to a reliable source of water and maintaining the infrastructure that delivers it is a challenge for many communities throughout Canada. Larger cities may have access to a greater tax base and advanced asset management systems, but they are also tasked with maintaining vast, complex, and aging infrastructure networks. Meanwhile, smaller remote communities across our country are faced with so many competing priorities, which makes it very difficult to address their infrastructure challenges with the limited funds they have available. We have learned from speaking to people in the communities we serve that the value of water is so much more than the initial capital cost of building a water treatment plant or distribution system. The value of water is measured through the impact it has on the health, welfare, and prosperity of the community. Understanding this enables us to help communities thrive.

The following stories demonstrate our commitment to respect the value of water by providing reasonable and reliable solutions to their infrastructure challenges.

Big Island Lake Cree Nation, Water Treatment Plant & Wells

The Big Island Lake Cree Nation (BILCN) had been under a long-term drinking water advisory spanning over four years from 2013 to 2018. In 2018, CIMA+ was tasked with identifying and addressing multiple issues at their water treatment plant (WTP), which related to code, condition, capacity, as well as the shortcomings of the treatment system itself that was not operating as it was originally designed to do. The multidisciplinary CIMA+ team, in close collaboration with BILCN and the Project Management Team, developed a holistic WTP upgrade program that addressed all facility code, condition and capacity issues. A new treatment system was pilot-tested and implemented that included biological treatment with subsequent membrane polishing. The biological treatment system addressed the iron, manganese, and ammonia levels to well within acceptable limits and the membrane polishing feature greatly reduced the hardness and total dissolved solids (TDS) in their potable water. Lowering the hardness and TDS was particularly important to BILCN as the previously higher levels were causing operational issues in the distribution system and significantly compromising residential plumbing systems. BILCN now benefits from a long-term, safe, reliable water supply which meets one of the most basic human needs in a prospering community.

Water supply infrastructure in Kuujjuaq

See how a water treatment train can meet the needs of a northern community, while considering local constraints.

Bright’s Grove Water Treatment Plant

This video presents CIMA+’ solutions in terms of water treatment for small municipalities and surrounding rural communities located on the shores of Lake Huron.

These projects demonstrate how our team has learned the value water represents for us and the people we serve. Furthermore, these show how CIMA+ can contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 improving good health and well-being, and 6 provide clean water and sanitation.

Jeffrey L. Halliday, P.Eng., PMP
Senior Project Manager, Infrastructure

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