The Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) announces Conestoga engineering students as winners of Canada’s Most Water Wise School Competition
TORONTO, ON (March 11, 2014) – On World Plumbing Day, an annual international event that celebrates the important role plumbing plays in the health and safety of modern society, the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) announced the winners of Canada’s Most Water Wise School Competition. The Institute’s first-ever competition challenged students to identify an action plan to decrease their school’s water footprint. The first place team from Conestoga College will share a $3,000 prize, while runner-ups from the University of Ottawa will share a $1,000 award.
In total, seven teams of students studying engineering, business, environmental studies and other relevant fields from five colleges and universities participated in the competition. Schools represented include: Carleton University in Ottawa; Conestoga College in Kitchener; Holland College in Charlottetown; Mount Royal University in Calgary; and the University of Ottawa.
“CIPH was extremely impressed with all of the submissions, in particular the attention to detail given to analyzing the technical and financial aspects of water conservation and the creative ideas presented to help their school reduce water consumption,” said Ralph Suppa, the Institute’s President and General Manager. “Given the positive response to this competition by students from across the country, CIPH is proud to commit to sponsoring an interdisciplinary case study competition on an annual basis.”
Canada’s Most Water Wise School Competition Winners
The first place team from Conestoga College from the Environmental Engineering Post Grad Program included Santina Alagia, Zeshan Anjum, Andrew Joseph, Dan Marshall, Kristina Taylor and Numair Khan Uppal and was led by faculty advisors Dave Farish and Coby Lamarche. The submission focused on reducing annual water consumption at the Conestoga College Doon campus, and stood out compared to the other submissions received in terms of technical considerations, social impact and cost recovery of the proposed initiatives. The proposal by Conestoga College also analyzed areas such as historical relevance like references to leaks, data analysis, recognizing gaps and assumptions; considerations of added value components such as public perception; as well as the breakdown of costs including demolition and reinstallation
Second place was awarded to the team from the University of Ottawa, Civil Engineering Program consisting of Katy Bosma, Patrick D’Aoust, Jean-Emmanuel Daoust and Stephen Jones, led by faculty advisor Roberto Narbaitz. The judges were impressed by the teams’ proposal which they felt was the most technologically aggressive in addressing the realistic application of greywater reuse concepts for one of the university’s sports complexes.
“Part of the focus for World Plumbing Day is to recognize the evolution and contribution our industry has had on modern society by making clean water accessible,” said CIPH Chairman Robert Whitty and president & CEO, Bartle & Gibson Co. Ltd. “The caliber of the submissions received demonstrates that tomorrow’s leaders understand the need for water conservation and innovative ways to reduce their school’s hydro footprint.”
To submit a case study on how their school could use and conserve water more wisely, students needed to address the following:
- Capital investment required to render the client site more efficient
- Annual water savings anticipated due to implementation
- Real estate impact – how much land/space would be needed to accomplish savings
- Products/materials to be used
- Intended social impacts
- Anticipated return on investment
Students were also required to submit an infographic and video along with their written submission. The winning video and submissions can be viewed at http://www.ciph.com/en/waterwiseschool.
The jury was comprised of a three-person panel of industry experts:
- Doug Flucker, Complex Building Inspector, City of Barrie, and member of OPIA (Ontario Plumbing Inspectors Association)
- Tonya Kraan, Manager of Innovation , Water Research & Innovation Network (WRAIN)
- Sidney Manning, Chief Plumbing and Gas Administrator/Inspector, Province of Alberta