Wayne MacRae, executive director of the CGWA, says "The next Canadian Ground Water Association Convention and Trade Show will be hosted at the Winnipeg Convention Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, May 26-29, 2010." MacRae says provincial groundwater associations, industry contractors, engineers, hydro-geologists, and suppliers will attend the conference, with the theme, “Shaping the future of Canada’s Ground Water Industry…” WCC will host 3,500 registrants in workshops and sessions to focus on all kinds of issues related to the supply of safe groundwater.
The conference will provide industry specifics of ground water drilling rigs and equipment, focus on safety of personnel, and topics about safety for the environment. Wayne says the CGWA membership will learn about new water pump technology, including innovations that do a couple of things, "New generation ground water pumps eliminate the need for storage and provide constant pressure in the water flow. It gives the water user the same constant pressure as a city water system."
The CGWA requires ground water drillers with a 4,000 hour apprenticeship program and/or experience including classroom instruction delivered at two colleges in Canada, Fleming College in Ontario and Red Deer College in Alberta. Red Deer College runs the apprenticeship program for groundwater certification in Alberta, and Sam Johnston administers the drilling program. He says the Alberta training situation is based on apprenticeship whereas in B.C. and Saskatchewan have no apprenticeships in drilling for water.
“The levels of safety in the service are about equal, but the situations are different because Alberta is far more complex north to south and east to west. The south eastern area is vastly different from the rest of the province. Groundwater is very important as a source of potable water in Alberta. Whereas cities like Edmonton and Calgary use river water to supply, outside the supply is aquifers.” For the sake of all concerned protection of groundwater is imperative, says Johnston.
