Driving the future: Smart water solutions for Canada’s infrastructure evolution
WSP draws on its Canadian and global expertise across disciplines to develop leading-edge water solutions to protect communities, the environment and public health. supplied
Reliable water and wastewater systems are essential to Canadians’ prosperity and foundational to public health, economic development and environmental sustainability
As our population grows and existing infrastructure ages, new pressures are exposing vulnerabilities in Canada’s water and wastewater systems, many of them not built for today’s scale or pace of change. As climate pressures intensify, ensuring reliable, equitable and sustainable water solutions has never been more important for Canadians.
Upgrading and future-proofing the nation’s water and wastewater systems are a crucial component of the nation-building projects that governments are prioritizing. And WSP, Canada’s largest engineering and professional services firm, is a leading innovator in the design of resilient, technically advanced systems that safeguard water access for all.
“We pay as much attention to community engagement as we do to technical excellence and environmental stewardship. Infrastructure must serve people, which means we must listen to local voices. WSP has certified engagement and communications specialists who help us ensure communities are part of our solutions.”
New risks from climate pressures and aging infrastructure
“Climate resilience is the number one challenge for water and wastewater infrastructure,” says Ansel Bather, national vice president – Water & Wastewater at WSP in Canada. “With the increased frequency of intense rainfall events and severe storms, climate change is overwhelming our water and wastewater systems and requiring us to design future-ready solutions to protect residents and businesses, and ensure reliable service is maintained,” Mr. Bather says.
Recent extreme weather events in various regions have highlighted the fragility of Canada’s water conveyance and stormwater systems. In July 2024, a record 100 millimetres of rain fell in Toronto in three hours, overwhelming the city’s infrastructure, flooding many homes and businesses, and causing $1-billion in damages. In November 2021, record-breaking rain in British Columbia triggered landslides and floods that caused damages of more than $7.5-billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history.
Closely connected to the changing climate is the challenge posed by the growing water infrastructure deficit. “The systems are aging, and as a result, are prone to breakage,” he says.
Statistics Canada reported that, in 2022, the condition of 11 per cent of water and wastewater assets across Canada was “poor” or “very poor.” Water leakage from the systems increased from 11 per cent in 2011 to 17 per cent in 2021, and recent major water transmission main ruptures in Montreal and Calgary produced flooding, power outages and loss of water service.
Global experience and multi-sector expertise
The need to build water resilience amidst climate change is a worldwide phenomenon, and WSP’s global footprint and vast international experience provide an advantage when handling complex water and wastewater projects in Canada. Another strength is the firm’s depth of expertise across multiple sectors – water, transportation and infrastructure, power and energy, earth and environment, and property and buildings.
“One of WSP’s key differentiators is our connected network of disciplines that are involved in infrastructure projects in all sectors,” Mr. Bather says. “We can bring in geotechnical engineers, tunnelling engineers, hydrogeologists and environmental scientists to augment water projects. We apply best practices from all sectors and disciplines to deliver tailored solutions for water systems in Canada, even in the face of complex technical, environmental and community challenges.”
WSP is a recognized digital leader in the consulting industry, and for water infrastructure projects, digital innovation is augmented by the company’s role as Canada’s largest, private weather-data provider, through its Advanced Weather Intelligence platform.
“These systems allow us to help our clients with smart asset management, so we can prevent water main breaks, flooding and other failures,” he says. “We can create digital models of a water distribution system or sewer network and use it along with advanced weather tools to predict a storm, simulate potential impacts of that storm and inform preventive action.”
Over the past decade, WSP has served as both engineer and program manager for a watermain rehabilitation initiative in one of Canada’s largest cities, achieving a 60 per cent reduction in annual watermain breaks. The team implemented innovative solutions to enhance efficiency, ensure cost and schedule certainty, foster community trust, and leveraged machine learning technologies to automate CCTV video review and defect detection.
Innovation: Tunnelling and underground delivery
“Around the world, more communities are turning to tunnelling projects to construct their water and wastewater infrastructure,” Mr. Bather says. “Underground water delivery systems are usually used in densely populated urban areas to minimize the impact to the public. Tunnels offer several economic, environmental and social benefits compared to surface construction methods.”
WSP recognizes the importance of engaging communities in all infrastructure projects and has unique expertise in this area as well. “We pay as much attention to community engagement as we do to technical excellence and environmental stewardship,” Mr. Bather says. “Infrastructure must serve people, which means we must listen to local voices. WSP has certified engagement and communications specialists who help us ensure communities are part of our solutions.”
One of the primary benefits of a tunnel solution is the reduction of construction impacts and community disruption. This applies to both the environment and the quality of life for the communities located along the alignment. Moreover, there are significant benefits to tunnelling in reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with open trench excavation as well as reducing the amount of waste material that must be hauled away to a disposal site.
WSP is a global leader in the design and construction of large, underground conveyance solutions, with a long list of notable achievements and successfully completed tunnelling projects for water and other applications across the globe. It is well equipped to adapt this expertise to Canadian conditions and project realities.
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