Responding to a rapidly changing world
In an ever-changing world, we know you face mounting pressure to deliver more for your communities. Shifting customer expectations, climate change, population growth, ESG demands and digital disruption require new ideas, new approaches and new solutions. Together with our clients, we are thinking and doing things differently to meet these challenges head-on.
Through the co-creation of new innovati solutions, we're deepening our expertise and developing new capabilities, so you can make informed decisions amid unprecedented complexity and rapid change with agility.
Join us at WEFTEC October 2nd - 4th to hear how we are leveraging our experience and global resources to bring our Cl tailored and innovative full-service cost-effective solutions. 
Register here to learn more from GHD 
Interactive panel session
Monday, October 2nd
1:40 - 2:20 PM
Our Aquanomics research uses a bespoke model to estimate the future economic impact of water risk from droughts, floods and storms in 10 geographies at both a GDP and sector level. The model found that no sector is protected against operational disruption. The resulting impact on food production can impact imports and exports, affecting global food security as well as health and social equity.
Drawing on insights from Aquanomics, this session will foster an interactive discussion with international experts representing the areas of water, energy and food. Through a mix of presentation, polling, discussion and video, we will unpack the changing economics of water risk in response to climate change and how this stands to impact the energy-food nexus.
Presented by Benjamin Beelan
Monday, October 2nd
2:15 - 2:35 PM
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sewer systems have typically not been reported in the wastewater industry and they are currently not required to be assessed (IPCC, 2021). However, recent studies indicate the production and emission of GHGs from sewers may be significant and therefore should be included in GHG inventories (Jin, et al., 2019). Before sewer-generated methane can be accounted for, tools to calculate these emissions must be in place to ensure widespread, standard, and comparable accounting of these emissions.
This work presents an application of the sewer methane model referenced in IWA (2022) to an existing full-scale sewer system and describes how the approach can be used to quantify or compare remedial actions without intensive data sampling to help guide and motivate remedial actions.
Presented by Thor Young
Monday, October 2nd
4:30 - 4:50 PM
Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology for wastewater treatment has existed for over 30 years and has matured into a standard and robust treatment technology ideally suited for compact sites and high-quality effluent requirements (Kraemer et al, 2012). MBR technology has evolved over time to achieve mass-scale manufacturing and higher capacity.
This paper will quantify the impact of these technology advances on the relative capital and operating costs of MBRs compared to conventional activated sludge (CAS) treatment by updating the cost estimating tool originally developed by GHD and Veolia (then GE Water & Process Technologies) presented at WEFTEC 2012 (Young et al, 2012).
Presented by Daniel Rizzuti
Tuesday, October 3rd
8:30 - 9:00 AM
The City of Toronto initiated a design and construction project in 2022 to replace the existing secondary treatment aeration blowers at the Humber Treatment Plant. A comprehensive approach was implemented to develop the process design basis for the new aeration blowers using dynamic wastewater treatment process modelling to derive process airflows for a one-year hourly diurnal flow and load profile. Resulting airflows were used to determine performance guarantee points at varying inlet air conditions.
Presented by Jeremy Kraemer
Tuesday, October 3rd
9:30 - 10:00 AM
Aeration blowers are the largest electricity user at a water resource recovery facility typically using around half of total consumption (EPRI, 2013). Improving blower efficiency can achieve significant savings in cost, electricity and GHG emissions. For these reasons, a lot of attention is paid to selections of the most efficient blower technology. Evaluated procurement allows for obtaining the most efficient equipment, which is particularly relevant for serration blowers because the power consumption over 20 years dominates the lifecycle cost.
The purpose of this paper is to document recent comparative O&M experiences turbo blower reliability data solicited from utilities and blower manufacturers. This information was used to support one municipal client’s blower technology decision.
Co-presented by Casey Cowan
Tuesday, October 3rd
2:00 - 2:30 PM
The enduring need for maintenance and rehabilitation of the conveyance systems currently entrusted to our care will surpass our careers and those of our successors. Regression is not an option in the face of aging infrastructure, evolving technology, and rising standards of public service and environmental protection.
Applying the lessons we have collectively learned remains a necessity for efficient and effective utility management.
Presented by Thor Young
Tuesday, October 3rd
3:30 - 4:00 PM
Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew) is the public wastewater agency in Alexandria, VA. It’s 54 MGD WRRF treats over 13 billion gallons of wastewater annually from Alexandria and portions of Fairfax County.
In 2020, AlexRenew commissioned a study to improve the performance, operability, maintainability, and redundancy of the WRRF’s preliminary and primary treatment systems. A key part of this effort was an evaluation of the coarse and fine screening systems which protect the facility from debris entering the plant from the combined sewer system. Both sets of screens are nearing the end of their useful life and face performance issues, such as excessive pass-through/carryover of large debris (e.g., leaves and rags) and/or solids, which cause downstream equipment clogs and lead to the presence of undesirable materials in other WRRF processes.
Presented by Anastasia Rudenko
Wednesday, October 4th
2:10 - 2:30 PM
The coastline of Southeastern Massachusetts is comprised of multiple estuarine systems. Nutrient enrichment, primarily associated with population growth and watershed land use changes, has exceeded these watersheds’ nitrogen assimilative capacities resulting in severe water quality degradation.
This presentation will outline innovative tools that communities are using to identify the most environmentally sound and cost-effective strategies for treated effluent disposal as part of their nutrient management planning projects.
Monday, October 2nd 1:30 - 3:00 PM
Thor Young
Tuesday, October 3rd 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Freddie Guerra
Monday, October 2nd 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Thor Young
Tuesday, October 3rd 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Thor Young
