municipal groundwater monitoring in waterloo region - solinst · municipal groundwater monitoring...

Tammy Middleton, M.Sc. P.Geo.

Senior Hydrogeologist

Regional Municipality of Waterloo

Municipal GroundwaterMunicipal GroundwaterMonitoring in WaterlooMonitoring in Waterloo

RegionRegion

Presentation OverviewPresentation Overview

• Waterloo Region

• Groundwater

monitoring programs

– Overview and

examples

• Clean Water Act

• Next Steps/Lessons

Learned

7 Municipalities

525,000 people

12.5 Billion Igal

17 water supply

systems

13 waste water

systems (2009)

Water SourcesWater Sources

• Surface Water

– Intake at Grand

River (Kitchener)

– Treatment at

Mannheim WTP

– 20%

Water SourcesWater Sources

Groundwater Wells

– 120 wells

– GUDI Wells (under

influence of surface

water)

– Aquifer Storage &

Recovery Wells

– Waterloo Moraine,

Fractured Rock, and

River Collector wells

– 80%

Water Sources

Rural

& Urban

Elmira

Cambridge

HydrogeologyHydrogeology

& Source Water Group& Source Water Group

Education/

Awareness

Contamination

Assessment

Source

Protection

PoliciesCompliance

Resource

Monitoring

Well

Upgrades

Well

Maintenance

New

Supplies

Water

Supply

Monitoring ProgramsMonitoring Programs

• 120 Production Wells

• 50 Monitoring Well nests (quality)

• 170 Monitoring Well nests (levels)

• RoW Laboratory

• On-line analyzers

• Monitoring Scope:

– Regulatory &

– “Beyond-Regulatory”

Monitoring Program ObjectivesMonitoring Program Objectives

Compliance with Legislation

Proactive monitoring - early warning of

supply or contamination issues

Sustainable management of groundwater

resources

Understanding the hydrogeological systems

Compliance with Compliance with

LegislationLegislation

$664,456

$880,627

$198,384

Labcharges*

139,05728,3692001

41,13611,1731999

131,37918,3112009

# tests# samples

* Not including Water Protection extra samples

Water samples and laboratory testing

Proactive Monitoring Proactive Monitoring

GreenbrookGreenbrook Wellfield Wellfield

• 5 overburden wells (Waterloo moraine)

• Park/residential area

• GUDI wellfield

• 2.5 million gal/day (125 L/s) production

• Fe, Mn treatment

• Studied since the

1970s by University

of Waterloo

• Operated since~1900

• Water quality

database to 1970s

• Water level database

to 1950s

Beyond Compliance testingBeyond Compliance testing

• Testing each source (raw wells,

monitoring wells)

• More frequent testing (eg seasonal

trends, early warning monitoring)

• Non-regulated chemicals

– TCA, MTBE, NDMA, 1,4-dioxane, ….

In The NewsIn The News

1,4-dioxane plume at1,4-dioxane plume at

GreenbrookGreenbrook

UV - Hydrogen Peroxide

Aside: The challenges of well fields in developed areas

SustainableManagement

Well/Aquifer

optimization

GUDI research

Well

decommissioning

Greenbrook Water Level Monitoring

300

305

310

315

320

325

330

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

m A

SL

M4-94B OW1-76

Understanding HydrogeologicalUnderstanding Hydrogeological

Systems Systems - Middleton St. Wellfield- Middleton St. Wellfield

• 5 bedrock wells

(Guelph/Gasport fms)

• Residential/Industrial area,

Cambridge

• GUDI wellfield

• 5 mil gal/day (250 L/s), 40%

of Cambridge water supply

• Under construction for TCE

treatment

• Must ensure un-interrupted

wellfield operation

250

255

260

1-Sep-09

2-Sep-09

3-Sep-09

4-Sep-09

5-Sep-09

6-Sep-09

7-Sep-09

8-Sep-09

Ele

va

tio

n m

as

l

MW1A-08

MW1B-08

MW1C-08

• Importance of appropriate water level monitoring

to understand hydrogeology

• Cost effective

250

255

260

1-Sep-09

2-Sep-09

3-Sep-09

4-Sep-09

5-Sep-09

6-Sep-09

7-Sep-09

8-Sep-09

Ele

va

tio

n m

as

l

MW1A-08

MW1B-08

MW1C-08

• Regulatory requirement

to complete long-term

GUDI monitoring

• Operational constraints-

ensure continuous supply

AND manage TCE levels

in finished water

• Continuous turbidity

meters

• SCADA

• Electronic water level

measurements

GUDI monitoring at anGUDI monitoring at an

operating wellfieldoperating wellfield

• Continuous waterlevels, onlineturbidity, now akey component ofmanagementduring Middletonstationconstruction

• Reliable, cost-effective,minimuminterference withconstructionschedule

OntarioOntario’’s Clean Water Acts Clean Water Act

Four Steps:

• Stage 1: Establish LocalFramework

– SP Committee, TOR

• Stage 2: Watershed/SourceWater Assessment *

– Technical Rules and provincialguidance

• Stage 3: Protection PlanDevelopment

• Stage 4: Protection PlanImplementation

* Now completing

Grand River SourceGrand River Source

Protection AreaProtection Area

CWA CWA ““Threats & IssuesThreats & Issues””

• Threat: potential source of groundwater

contamination

• Condition: area that is already

contaminated

• Issue: documented contamination within

a water intake– According to Technical Rules- must use data to

identify contamination and/or trends

IssuesIssues Assessment Assessment

ResultsResults

• Issues at 13 wellfields

• Urban & rural

• “Issue Contributing

Areas” defined

• Related Threats

become significant

within ICAs

• Nitrate

• Salt (chloride,

sodium)

• Trichloroethylene

• ROW already

monitoring and

addressing these

issues

Example: TCEExample: TCE

TCE TRENDS

MIDDLETON STREET WELLFIELD

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

01-Ja

n-02

01-Ja

n-04

01-Ja

n-06

01-Ja

n-08

01-Ja

n-10

DATE

TC

E C

ON

CE

NT

RA

TIO

N (

ug

/L)

G01 G01A G02 G14 G03

Reservoir

Concentration =

~2.5 ppb

Example: SaltExample: Salt

0

100

200

300

400

1970

1975

1980

1984

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

CH

LO

RID

E

mg

/L

G01 G01A G02 G03 G14

Chloride Trends- Middleton St. Wellfield

Salt Sources – Parking Lots

72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 08Year

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400m

g/L

LegendSodium Concentration

Chloride Concentration

Regional Supply Well G5

ODWS for Chloride

ODWS for Sodium‘94 ‘98

Example: NitrateExample: Nitrate

NITRATE -WILMOT CENTRE

0

2

4

6

8

10

19801984

19901995

20002005

2010

NIT

RA

TE

m

g/L

K50 K51

Next: Possible SPP ActivitiesNext: Possible SPP Activities

Financial Incentives for

improved farm

management

Land purchase of most

vulnerable areas

Business

inspections

Risk management

plans

Financial incentives

to reduce spill risk

Municipal road-salt

management plans

Smart about Salt

accreditation

Salt management

for new

development

Update Official

Plan

• Studies and

restrictions

Challenges/Lessons LearnedChallenges/Lessons Learned

• Large program- 38

wellfields

– Have monitoring objectives

and prioritize

– Look for technology,

efficiency, simplicity

– Allocate manpower,

resources

– I take suggestions!


Effective Monitoring– Set monitoring program

objectives

– Plan ahead - what datawill you need in 1 year?10 years?

– Tailor monitoring toyour objectives andreport accordingly

– Contingency plans torespond to monitoringdata


• Data

– Set procedures for data review

and management (SOPs)

– ROW datasets too large for usual

computer tools

– Team with data experts,

automate as much as possible

– Integrate with the lab

– Make QA/QC a priority

– New technology, GIS databases

– Avoid proprietary programs for

data storage

20,482

2,6913,572

21ppm

39

86%

3467

2

IPZ

6m bgs

OW1-90

Non-agricultural source

material

365.23 m asl

37

919

20

69

139

14%

6

818 Road salt

Condition

Solvent

TCE

Moderate

3

91

ODWS

2,691

13

39

86%

DNAPL

20

6.8

9

Condition

TCE

91

39685

Significant

919

13

14%

6

3

91

WHPA-A

13

9

Travel blank 91

turbidity


• Large and aging monitoring

network

– Regulatory burden: work

with MOE inspectors to

prioritize, anticipate

– Plan and carry out an

inspection/maintenance

program

– Technology- finding and

replacing/plugging aging

wells

– Limit new permanent

installations (technology?)


• Working in an increasingly

regulated environment

– Communicate with MOE, foster

professional relationships

– Get legal advice

– Comply, but don’t be afraid to

challenge, MOE will listen

– Be careful about communicating

monitoring results, to avoid

time-wasting “compliance”

misunderstanding, eg.

Preliminary results vs final

– Look ahead, stay educated for

new rules (eg Clean Water Act)

Questions?Questions?

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