CREDEAU
CENTRE FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND
VALIDATION OF TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES
FOR WATER
Raymond Desjardins, Professor, ing.
Former Director of CREDEAU
Polytechnique Montreal
May 31 st , 2014
World-Class Enginneering
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BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
 Established in 2003 with funding from the Canadian
Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ministry of Education,
Recreation and Sport (MELSQ)
 Grants received: $ 12.5 million (2003) and $ 4.8 million
(2012)
 The CFI grants aim to invest in cutting-edge research infrastructure to:
• conduct research and development leading to world-class innovation
• attract and retain the best researchers in the world
• train the next generation of scientists to strengthen our position in the world
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BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
 10 principal investigators affiliated to four universities in Montreal: :
● Polytechnique Montreal
● Montreal University
● École de technologie supérieure
● McGill University
 Why ?
● To create a single group sharing a research infrastructure in the region of Montreal
 Infrastructures
● Advanced analytical instruments
● Eight highly automated and instrumented mobile pilot units,
● In development: o A fixed pilot at the Botanical Garden in Montreal (The Phytozone) o A computer lab for process design and analysis
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Municipal
Montreal
Laval
Repentigny
St-Hyacinthe
La Prairie
Mirabel
Mont-Tremblant
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
Gatineau
Longueuil
Ste-Julie
Waterloo
Hagersville and 20 more municipalities
Provincial
Hydro-Québec
MDDDEP
MAMROT
MAPAQ
International collaborations
USEPA
OMS
IWA
IOA
AWWA
And 25 universities in 12 countries
Federal
Natural Resources Canada
St. Lawrence Centre
Health Canada
Industrial
John-Meunier Inc.
Degrémont Technologies Ltée
Dagua
Lallemand
Imalog
EnviroSim
Dessau-Soprin
SNC-Lavalin
Axor
Roche
Cima+
Tecsult
Genivar
Soconag
Domtar
Kruger
Paprican
Canadian researchers
Ontario (Universities of Toronto,
Brock, Waterloo, Guelph)
Nova Scotia (Dalhousie)
Alberta (University Of Calgary)
British Colombia (UBC)
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INTEGRATING THEME:
THE MUNICIPAL WATER CYCLE
Industrial partners
DRINKING WATER
TREATMENT PLANT
WATER SOURCE
SEWER OVERFLOWS
DISTRIBUTION
WATER REUSE
SLUDGE TREATMENT,
RECOVERY, REUSE
WASTEWATER
TREATMENT PLANT
(WRRF)
Municipal
Partners
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RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
INDUSTRIAL PILOT INSTALLATIONS
 Multi experimentation scales
• from beaker to industrial pilot process
 Highly instrumented and automated mobile and fixed pilot units
• 8 pilot units for industrial-scale research for the municipal water cycle
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RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
ADVANCED ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS
 Analytical instruments for the detection of emerging contaminants of interest
• Endocrine disruptors (hormones)
• Pesticides
• Cytotoxic agents
• Algal toxins
• Viable non-culturable Legionella
• Infectious parasites by culturing cells
 Probes for the detection of contaminants in real time
 Unit costs $25K to $ 600k
 Method development (1 to 3 years)
 Operation supported by a team of 22 technicians / research associates
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OUTPUTS
1. Scientific, technical and economic validation of innovative technologies
● Pilot testing for the selection of new treatments - 3 filtration plants of the City of Montreal (for supporting an investment of $ 226 million)
● Pilot testing for selection of a new mode disinfection of wastewater to the City of Montreal (investment of $ 200 million)
● Treatability tests for more than forty Quebec municipalities or companies ($ 400 M for rehabilitation)
2. Transfer of knowledge to users
● 2004-2011: 330 scientific papers/700 conferences
3. Training of highly qualified personnel (HQP)
Highly qualified personnel (HQP)
Post-doc
Ph.D.
M.A.Sc/M.Eng.
Technicians/research associates
Total
Currently
15
73
64
22
174
2004-2011
30
62
122
41
255
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HOW EVERYTHING STARTED
 Slow start in the 80s
 Small projects with City of Laval
 Biological filtration
 1992: NSERC Industrial Chair on Drinking Water
 Montreal, Laval, John Meunier inc.
 Projects-Budget-Equipment-Water treatment plant
 Technical meeting twice a year
 Publications and conferences
 2003: CREDEAU
 CFI grant (12,5M$)
 Big increase in research infrastructure
 Bigger research team
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Drinking Water Chairholders at Polytechnique
 Two chairholders:
 Professor Michèle Prévost
 Professor Benoit Barbeau
 Established in 1992
 Renewed every 5 years
 Current cycle: 2010-2015
 Unique research infrastructure and equipments (CREDEAU)

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•
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BENEFITS
Universities
Source of revenu (Grants, etc.)
Face real problem (science and operation)
Access to Water and Wastewater treatment plans
Conferences and publications
Recruiting better students
Municipalities
Bigger return on investment
Highly qualified team of researchers
Improve knowledge
Visibility
Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP)
Research infrastructures Access to research infrastructure
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MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIP


 All results are presented
 Close door meeting with officials to define research orientations

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CONCLUSIONS
 CREDEAU would not exist without Universitiesmunicipalities collaboration
 CREDEAU have a very positive influence on our research capacity
 Municipalities have access to a highly qualified team of researchers
 HQP hired in municipalities and industries have a positive effect on:
 Research activities in universities
 Implementation of results of research in municipalities
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