Vulnerability of Drinking Water Treatment Plants to Low Water Levels in the St. Lawrence River
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 133, Issue 1
Abstract
This project’s main objective was to determine the vulnerability of water treatment plants (WTPs) along the lower St. Lawrence River to water level fluctuations, which included the effects of both regulation and climate change. Of the 30 WTPs investigated, three were found to be vulnerable to flow conditions experienced in the past (last 100 years). The vulnerability being dictated by the impossibility of supplying the maximum water demand for which the plant was originally designed. For large facilities that dispose multiple equipments (e.g., two wells or two intakes), a large fraction of the production could be maintained at a critical level. For smaller plants, on the other hand, the situation could be more critical. Insufficient water in the well, caused by low water levels in the river, could cause pumping problems or interrupted distribution, but this can be remedied more easily than in larger plants.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Brière, F. G. (2000). Distribution et collecte des eaux, 2nd Ed., Presse Internationale de Polytechnique. Montréal.
Bruce, J. P., Burton, I., Martin, H., Mills, B., and Mortsch, L. (2000). Le secteur de l’eau: Vulnérabilité et adaptation aux changements climatiques, Global Strategies International Inc. and Meteorological Services of Canada, Ottawa, http://www.gcsi.ca/downloads/francais.pdf .
Champoux, O., and Morin, J. (2004). “Application of 2D hydrodynamic, wind wave, and transport-diffusion models: A basis for biological modeling of the St. Lawrence River.” Proc., 5th Int. Symp. on Ecohydraulics, Madrid, Spain.
Conseil d’étude aux termes du renvoi sur les niveaux (CETRN). (1993). “Étude du renvoi sur les niveaux du bassin du Saint-Laurent et des Grands Lacs.” Presented to the International Joint Commission.
Environment Canada. (2004). “Quickfacts.” The Green Lane, Environment Canada, http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/e_quickfacts.htm (Dec. 8, 2005).
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2001). Climate change 2001: Synthesis report, R. Watson and the Core Writing Team, eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Marsalek, J., Watt, E. W., Lefrançois, L., Boots, B. F., and Woods, S. (2004). “Approvisionnement en eau des municipalités et développement urbain—Chapitre 5.” Menaces pour la disponibilité de l’eau au Canada, Environnement Canada, Burlington, Ont., Canada, 39–45.
Morin, J., and Bouchard, A. (2001). “Les bases de la modélisation du tronçon Montréal/Trois-Rivières.” Rapport scientifique SMC-Hydrométrie RS-100, Environnement Canada, Sainte-foy, Québec.
Mortsch, L., Hengeveld, H., Lister, M., Lofgren, B., Quinn, F., Slivitsky, M., and Wenger, L. (2000). “Climate change impacts on hydrology of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence system.” Can. Water Resour. J., 25(2), 153–179.
Moulton, R. J., and Cuthbert, D. G. (2000). “Cumulative impacts/risk assessment of water removal or loss from the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River system.” Can. Water Resour. J., 25(2), 181–208.
Ouranos. (2004). “Adapting to climate change.” http://www.ouranos.ca/cc/climang5.pdf (Dec. 8, 2005).
Planning and Management Consultants, Ltd. (PMCL). (2003). “Impacts of lake level fluctuations on municipal and industrial water supply infrastructure along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway: Phase 1.” Report, Presented to the International Joint Commission.
Rousseau, A. N., Mailhot, A., Slivitsky, M., Villeneuve, J.-P., Rodriguez, M. J., and Bourque, A. (2004). “Usages et approvisionnement en eau dans le sud du Québec.” Can. Water Resour. J., 29(2), 121–134.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 133 • Issue 1 • January 2007
Pages: 33 - 38
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 4, 2005
Accepted: Sep 14, 2005
Published online: Jan 1, 2007
Published in print: Jan 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.