About Smart Underground
Have you ever thought of what life would be like without clean/fresh water to drink or without sewer systems to handle our waste? Our dependency is a frightening thought. Many countries today are currently facing these challenges.
Our dependence upon clean water and sewerage systems has become a vital part of our everyday lives. From municipal to industrial uses, available infrastructure has supported and driven our economies and our standard of living.
One of the biggest challenges facing us today is providing and maintaining these critical assets for our future generations.
As a result of the aging condition and associated deterioration of the sewer and water infrastructure, we are now experiencing failures such as sink holes, sewage backups, discharge of untreated sewage into our natural water systems, poor water quality issues such as Walkerton, loss of treated water through leaking pipes and major water-main breaks
In a study released in November 2006 of 20 communities, representing approximately 1/3 of the Great Lake Region’s 35 million people, it is estimated that more than 90 billion liters of untreated sewage is being dumped into the Great Lakes each year by these 20 communities. This is the equivalent of more than 100 Olympic swimming pools full of raw sewage being dumped directly into the Great Lakes every single day.
We are facing a monumental challenge and this is not an issue that can be avoided any longer. It is not fair for us to turn a blind eye to our responsibilities and to pass our infrastructure burdens to future generations. The time is now for industry and government agencies become involved in a unified effort to advance our industry through the implementation of state of the art systems, in depth Research & Development of new /less costly rehabilitation methods, the development of environmentally friendly solutions and the education of all citizens from the bottom up.
The SMART Underground Program was created to:
- Extend the life span of existing sewer and water infrastructure
- Educate the leaders of tomorrow
- Drive industry research & development
- Provide environmentally responsible alternatives
- Provide infrastructure sustainability solutions