The Walkerton Clean Water Centre (WCWC) is launching a new course – Distribution Fundamentals: Water Storage Facilities.
The course has been designed to provide drinking water operators, working in water storage facilities, with fundamental skills that relate to equipment, routine maintenance and legal requirements for secondary disinfection. Through case studies and videos, participants will learn how to safely operate and maintain storage facility equipment.
The course will also include an overview of regulatory requirements and an introduction to supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.
In a media release, the WCWC says that the course is designed for distribution operators with minimal experience working in water storage facilities and will also be of interest to those distribution operators who want to improve their skills in performing various operational and maintenance activities on equipment used in the distribution system.
WCWC is an agency of the Government of Ontario, established in 2004 following the Walkerton E-coli outbreak water crisis of 2000. In a report that grew out of the crisis and an inquiry that was launched as the Walkerton Commission led by Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2002, it was found that there were several factors that contributed to the crisis. Blame was laid not only at the feet of the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission (PUC) staff and lack of training but also on the Ontario government of Mike Harris for not regulating water quality and not enforcing the guidelines that had been in place. The water testing had, in fact, been privatized in October, 1996.
With the establishment of the WCWC, training for the staff of drinking water systems was developed to help ensure that clean and safe drinking water is provided for the entire province. WCWC coordinates and provides education, training and information to drinking water system owners, operators and operating authorities, and the public, in order to safeguard Ontario’s drinking water.
To date, high-quality drinking water training has been provided to more than 93,000 participants across Ontario. Through partnerships, WCWC also provides training for the 134 First Nations communities in Ontario. For more information, visit www.wcwc.ca.
Successful participants in the new course will receive 0.7 Continuing Education Units.
The first virtual session is scheduled on March 2 and 3, 2021, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The live session will provide opportunities for interaction between the instructor and participants. Participants will require access to a computer with internet connection, a camera and microphone. A course manual will be sent by courier to each participant prior to the session. The cost to register is $245.00 + HST.
For more information, or to register, please visit wcwc.ca/registration or contact us at 866-515-0550 or training@wcwc.ca.
