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As part of a broad initiative to develop decision support tools for the design and rehabilitation of core public infrastructure to ensure adequate performance under existing climate and future climate change, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and Infrastructure Canada (INFC), in partnership with collaborators and stakeholders, undertook a study to examine risks and potential opportunities emerging from changes in precipitation, temperature and freeze/thaw cycles on water distribution system resilience and performance. Specifically, the project addressed the following: 1) the impacts of temperature and precipitation changes on water consumption and the ensuing implications for hydraulic capacity, 2) the impacts of temperature and precipitation changes on energy consumption in water distribution system operation, 3) the impacts of changes in temperature, precipitation and freeze/thaw cycles on water main breaks, and 4) the impacts of temperature changes on water quality (through tracking of chlorine residuals). This work is envisaged to serve as a first step toward the development of a set of tools for water utility companies to evaluate their system vulnerabilities to changing climate.

Canada’s buildings, bridges, roads, rail transit, potable water systems and wastewater systems provide shelter and safe drinking water, enable transport of people and goods, and collect and treat wastewater. They provide basic and core services for Canadians and are critical to Canada’s economy and the nation’s quality of life. These buildings and core public infrastructure (B&CPI) are subject to time-varying and uncertain effects due to climate change, as well as more frequent extreme weather events, such as flooding. These climate changeinduced pressures could potentially reduce the safety, serviceability, functionality, and service life of Canada’s B&CPI. In addition, Canadian B&CPI are aging and deteriorating due to different degradation mechanisms, as well as inadequate inspection and maintenance practices – issues potentially made worse by the effects of climate change. The Climate-Resilient Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure (CRBCPI) initiative was established as a research and development partnership between the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and Infrastructure Canada to develop new and revised codes, standards, specifications, guidelines and decision support tools to ensure that Canada’s new and existing B&CPI are more resilient to the effects of climate change and extreme weather events. Funded by Infrastructure Canada and managed by NRC, the effort brings together experts from across Canada. Initiative priority areas include buildings, bridges, roads, potable water, storm water, and wastewater systems, and rail transit guideways. The initiative addresses resilience to climate change impacts on temperature, precipitation, wind and extreme weather events, including flooding, wildfires and extreme wind, which can affect these types of B&CPI across the country.

Les bâtiments, les ponts, les routes, le transport en commun sur rail de même que les réseaux d'alimentation en eau potable et d'évacuation des eaux usées du Canada fournissent un abri et de l'eau potable, et permettent le transport des personnes et des marchandises ainsi que la collecte et le traitement des eaux usées. Ils fournissent des services de base essentiels aux Canadiens et sont d'une importance cruciale pour l'économie canadienne et la qualité de vie de la nation. Ces bâtiments et infrastructures publiques de base (BIPB) subissent des effets incertains et variables dans le temps en raison des changements climatiques, et sont soumis à des événements météorologiques extrêmes plus fréquents, comme les inondations. Ces pressions induites par les changements climatiques pourraient éventuellement réduire la sécurité, le rendement en service, la fonctionnalité et la durée de vie des BIPB du Canada. De plus, les BIPB canadiens vieillissent et se détériorent en raison de différents mécanismes de dégradation, ainsi que de pratiques inadéquates d'inspection et d'entretien – des problèmes potentiellement aggravés par les effets des changements climatiques. L'initiative Bâtiments et infrastructures publiques de base résilients aux changements climatiques (BIPBRCC) a été établie sous forme de partenariat de recherche-développement entre le Conseil national de recherches du Canada (CNRC) et Infrastructure Canada afin d'élaborer des codes, des normes, des spécifications, des lignes directrices et des outils décisionnels nouveaux et révisés pour rendre les BIPB nouveaux et existants au Canada plus résilients face aux effets des changements climatiques et des événements météorologiques extrêmes. Financée par Infrastructure Canada et gérée par le CNRC, cette initiative réunit des experts de partout au pays. Les secteurs prioritaires de l'initiative comprennent les bâtiments, les ponts, les routes, les réseaux d'eau potable, d'eaux pluviales et d'eaux usées, ainsi que les transports en commun sur rail. L'initiative porte sur la résilience face aux impacts des changements climatiques sur la température, les précipitations, le vent et les événements météorologiques extrêmes, notamment les inondations, les incendies de forêt et le vent extrême, qui peuvent affecter ces types de BIPB partout au pays.

Transport Canada (TC) has contracted the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to assess and develop marine sanitation device (MSD) technologies for use onboard small vessels (under 400 gross tonnes with a particular focus on fishing vessels of 15-150 gross tonnes). Accordingly, NRC has developed a research protocol to address this issue. The project will ultimately involve laboratory-scale experiments and full-scale field trials; however, the portion of the study described in this document is a desktop review of existing MSD manufacturers and products. The purpose of this review is to update the existing inventory commissioned by TC in 2014 and determine which MSD units are best suited for use onboard small vessels. Based on the results of the technology review, two or three units will be selected for purchase and will be evaluated in a laboratory setting. While this component of the study is focused on ship-based solutions, future phases may be expanded to include an assessment of shore-based technologies. The desktop review process and its results are outlined in the current technical report.

A probabilistic approach is proposed, in which the economic life of a large-diameter buried pipe is expressed as a function of various factors, including the cost and efficiency of inspection. Expert knowledge is initially used to estimate the pipe expected remaining life as well as the impact of inspection technology on this estimate. As ‘hard’ data are obtained about the pipe, through actual recorded failures as well as through systematic and opportunistic inspection, these data are used to update and refine the initial estimates. The approach supports rational decisions, about pipe renewal timing, inspection scheduling and size of investment in an inspection campaign., 12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, CCWI 2013, Sept. 2-4, Perugia, Italy, Series: CCWI International Conferences on Computing and Control for the Water Industry

This objective of the project is to develop a manual of practice for condition assessment/evaluation of large diameter (14” and larger) cast iron (CI) and ductile iron (DI) pipes in order to help utilities assess their pipe inventory and identify those pipes most in need of renewal. This work will be based in what is available now in terms of condition assessment technologies to include information about costs and limitations of each technology., Jointly sponsored by Water Research Foundation and National Research Council of Canada