ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
BOX 6.1: CANADIAN INDUSTRIAL WATER SURVEYS
Three sectors participate in the Canada Industrial Water
Survey: manufacturing, mineral extraction, and fossil fuel
and nuclear electric power-generating plants.
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Table 6.1: Generation of wastewater by type of industry, 2011 (million m 3 )
Each sector has its own questionnaire that collects data
on the volume of water brought into the facility, including
information on the source, purpose, treatment and possible
recirculation of this water, and also the volumes and levels
of treatment prior to discharge. The questionnaires are
developed in collaboration with data users in order to meet
their statistical needs.
Respondents were also consulted through individual meetings
to ensure the information being asked was available and
that the questionnaire could be filled out within a reasonable
timeframe. Data are collected directly from survey respondents
using mail-out/mail-back paper questionnaires. Mail-out
occurs in the year following the reference year and is directed
to an “environment manager or coordinator”.
Responding to the survey is mandatory and respondents are
asked to return the completed questionnaires within 30 days
of receipt. A letter explaining the purpose of the survey, the
requested return date, and the legal requirement to respond
are included in the mail-out package and fax reminders are
sent to respondents whose questionnaires are outstanding
45 days after the mail-out.
While many individual companies do collect and indeed
report their wastewater data as required by regulations,
with some exceptions, there are glaring gaps in all sectors
collecting and collating data on national and global scales.
These gaps will require bridging before water management
policy can attempt to make good progress in coordinating
water use and consumption with wastewater generation and
discharges, the latter being often overlooked.
on water resources, human health and the environment than
actual volumes of water. This is reflected in Pollutant Release
and Transfer Registries (PRTRs), which contain information
from developed countries on the amounts of selected polluting
substances (above certain thresholds) released by industry into
water, land and air (OECD, n.d.).
Such databases could be analysed to obtain a general idea
about the overall level of potential recoverable resources among
the many undesirable contaminants. Widely varying industrial
activities produce wastewater, which is characterised by a broad
spectrum of pollutants (see Table 6.4).
Table 6.2: Industrial wastewater discharges after treatment (as a % of total
discharges), 2007–2011
Table 6.3: Water intake, discharge, and recirculation in Canadian industry, 2011 (million m 3 )
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Technology is available to remove (or ‘mine’) these pollutants
and is only limited by its cost-effectiveness in given industrial
situations. This creates two products: the treated water and
Continued on page 31 >>
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November 2018 Volume 24 I Number 9