Operations and Maintenance

Every day, OCWA staff members demonstrate their diversified skills and experience. Our staff operate facilities ranging from small well systems and lagoons to large water and wastewater systems serving over a million people. In hundreds of facilities all across the province, we meet Ontario's geographic and climatic challenges with safe, reliable operations.

O&M Efficiencies

Our clients benefit from our commitment to increase efficiencies, reduce costs, and expand our base of shared resources. We can reduce your operational costs through our regional and hub structure, large-scale purchasing power, and remote monitoring capabilities. Our clients benefit from OCWA's O&M support services and programs such as:

• Quality & Environmental Management System
• Internal compliance audit system
• Regulatory support
• Emergency equipment, expertise, and resources
• Asset management
• Plant optimization
• Site-specific contingency plans and standard operating procedures
• Remote monitoring capabilities
• Remote process data collection database and online reporting tools
• Training
• Information Technology
• Human Resources

To ensure our clients' facilities are managed effectively and to deliver the best value, OCWA has implemented innovative technologies and systems to increase operational efficiencies, reliability and risk management. This serves to protect our clients' assets, reduce operations and maintenance costs, improve plant performance, and provides documentation to ensure accountability to both clients and the regulator.

QUALITY & ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

OCWA has developed and continues to maintain its own comprehensive Quality & Environmental Management System (QEMS). This system ensures that our clients' facilities are being operated in an efficient, safe and environmentally responsible manner and includes programs for identifying and mitigating risks that may affect the facilities OCWA operates.

QEMS empowers OCWA to take a responsible, pro-active and effective quality and environmental management approach to better protect human health and the integrity of the environment. The QEMS system is based on international standards of excellence for Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001) and Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001).

OCWA’s QEMS Policy is to:

• Maintain and continuously improve upon a comprehensive quality and environmental management system (QEMS) to support the delivery of safe, reliable and cost-effective clean water services that protect public health and the environment.

• Establish clear objectives against which OCWA’s environmental performance can be measured and assessed with the goal of continuous improvement.

• Understand and meet all applicable regulatory requirements and audit the facilities we operate to ensure compliance.

• Utilize a risk-based approach to quality management that accounts for the complexity and specific challenges of providing operation and maintenance services.

• Promote client and consumer confidence through service excellence and effective communications.

• Collaborate with its clients to prevent pollution and contribute to a more sustainable future by promoting the use of operational efficiencies and improved technology.

• Train staff on their responsibilities under the QEMS and how meeting these responsibilities assists with the protection of public health and the environment.

• Report on facility performance to its employees, clients and stakeholders.