Veolia Q&A: Trends and challenges developing for Canada’s water and wastewater sectors

JEFF: There are parts of the world that are really focused on greenhouse gas emission mitigation, such as Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and the Nordic countries. They are trying to determine the baseline — what are their emissions today — and then look for actions to reduce that, which Canada could be doing better than we are. Water reuse is happening more in other parts of the world. Although Canada is blessed with lots of fresh water, reuse could become a reality for us in the future. The earlier we start preparing society for that the better.

MARC: With drinking water, we are seeing more stringent regulations in other parts of the world, for instance in France. There, we are already implementing treatment plants designed to treat pesticides and other similar contaminants, so we already know the technologies that will be most effective in this matter. While regulations are not as stringent in Canada yet, we will probably see it eventually.

JEFF: Another thing we could be doing better is preparing in anticipation of challenges and regulations. For example, what do we do for a phosphorus limit of 1 mg/l now, and what if it becomes 0.1 mg/l in the future? How are we to manage that? And for micro-pollutant removal, how do we design our secondary treatment systems to anticipate that? It goes back to what Marc said about future-proofing.

JEFF: Micro-electronics is a big deal in the U.S. with the CHIPS and Science Act, so there is lots of investment both for the front-end water treatment and the back-end wastewater treatment. With these big chip fabrication plants being built, they have a huge water demand that requires ultrapure water to make sure you are not contaminating the chips. And, they produce wastewater that has wide variabilities, so you need specialized treatment on the back-end. Water reuse is also a big deal for data centers. They might be built where there is lots of power but limited water supply, and they need water for cooling. So, there is a big water demand for these data centers that we are supporting.

MARC: But the biggest industrial market for us in Canada is mining, with mining companies increasingly focused on sustainable water management as a core part of their operations. Key priorities include effective tailings management, wastewater treatment, and minimizing environmental footprint while maintaining operational efficiency. The industry is actively investing in water-efficient technologies and resource recovery solutions to ensure long-term sustainability and maintain strong community relationships.

JEFF: Talking to customers, it seems that there are a lot of well-developed projects. They have a plan, they know what they need to do, they are just evaluating a couple of different technical options. But these are real projects that are happening, so it is encouraging! It also feels like there is a lot of activity in the municipal market too.

MARC: PFAS is a topic generating a lot of buzz at the show. While it is a little bit less in Canada, it is coming, so we are hearing about that a lot.