2011 Municipal Water Use Report – Municipal Water Use 2009 Statistics

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Glossary

Geocode

Spatially referencing statistical data by linking it to geographical information, such as longitude and latitude.

Impute

The process of estimating a missing value that a survey respondent failed to provide. For example, the estimate can be assumed from the subject’s responses to similar surveys in previous years or calculated using various statistical methods. In this case, missing values were imputed from data submitted in 2006 only, and where applicable, where adjusted for the change in the population in the intervening years.

Municipality

A municipal-level jurisdiction (in an organizational and spatial sense), as defined by Statistics Canada’s Census Subdivisions. In some cases, municipalities have been grouped for the purpose of the Municipal Water Use and Pricing survey.

Municipal Water Use Database

The municipally aggregated database created from municipal water use survey results, using imputed values where necessary.

Population served

The portion of the responding population receiving a particular water-related municipal service (i.e., water distribution, water treatment, wastewater collection or wastewater treatment, depending on the question).

Proxy

A statistical variable that is similar enough to another to be used as a substitute for it, usually because it can be more readily measured than the original.

Responding municipality

A municipality for which there was a response to a given question in the 2009 survey. A municipality that fails to respond to a particular survey question can still be considered a responding municipality if its response can be imputed from other available information (see “Impute”).

Responding population

The number of people for which the responding municipality provided a response to a given survey question. For example, if a municipality provided the percent of households metered for a water system serving 20 000 people and another water system serving 5 000 people, the total responding population for residential water metering for that municipality is 25 000 people.

Wastewater treatment levels

Classifications of wastewater treatment types to simplify comparison of the many types of wastewater treatment technologies used, specifically:
None/Preliminary: The wastewater receives no treatment or preliminary treatment only. Preliminary treatment removes relatively large solids from wastewater. Some common techniques include grit removal, screening, bar racks and skimming.
Primary: A treatment process that allows the undissolved solids in raw sewage to settle out of suspension forming sludge. Some common techniques include primary sedimentation/clarification, plate/tube settlers and chemical precipitation/flocculation.
Secondary-WSP (Waste Stabilization Ponds): Treatment for the removal of most of the organic matter or to achieve significant biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids reductions. Some common techniques include: aerated, aerobic, facultative, storage ponds and anaerobic.
Secondary-Mechanical: Treatment for the removal of most of the organic matter or to achieve significant biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids reductions. Some common techniques include: conventional activated sludge, extended aeration activated sludge, pure oxygen activated sludge, other activated sludge, oxidation ditch, trickling filter, rotating biological contactor and sequencing batch reactor.
Tertiary: Enhanced treatment to remove constituents, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which may not be satisfactorily reduced through conventional secondary treatment. Some common techniques include: polishing ponds, ammonia stripping or air stripping, biological nutrient removal--nitrogen and phosphorus, biological ammonia removal--nitrification only (NH₃ → NO₃), biological nitrogen removal--nitrification and denitrification (NH₃ → N₂), biological phosphorus removal, chemical precipitation (phosphorus), and filtration.

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