The Walkerton Clean Water Centre Receives
Ministry of the Environment 2008 Emerald Award

The Walkerton Clean Water Centre received the award at the Emerald Awards Ceremony held on March 3, 2009 in Toronto.

The category: Innovation

The category recognizes new and creative ways of doing business. It may involve tools, processes, practices, research or policies that significantly helped to improve the ministry's operations or help meet its goals.

The Centre received the award for Better Training and Knowledge for the Water Treatment Professionals of Today and Tomorrow.

Award Recipients:

WCWC: CEO Dr. Saad Jasim, Linda Thompson, Maurice Oduor, Dr. Souleymane Ndiongue, Dr. Housseini Coulibaly Honourable Mention Recipients: WCWC: Patricia Ruetz, Greg Hayes, Kelly Fransen, Corinne Louther, Carol Siegfried, Paula VanVeen, Devendra Borikar, Omar Alshikh, Nathan Pray, Lissa Irwin, Venkat Ramani, Ling Liu, Linda Cranston, Katherine Campbell

Award Recipients & Presenters Back Row L to R: The Honourable John Gerretsen, Minister, Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and Gail Beggs, Deputy Minister, MOE presenting the award to Maurice Oduor, WCWC; Dr. Souleymane Ndiongue, WCWC; Front Row L to R: Linda Thompson, WCWC; CEO Dr. Saad Jasim, WCWC; and Dr. Housseini Coulibaly

Under the visionary leadership of CEO Dr. Saad Jasim, the Walkerton Clean Water Centre is being transformed into a world-class centre of excellence.

Through enhancements to its Technology Demonstration Facility, a new Mobile Training Unit and a philosophy focused on inspiring future water professionals, the WCWC team has developed a comprehensive outreach program to share knowledge and leading-edge technology. This innovative approach is helping the province's water professionals meet Ontario's stringent drinking water standards and prepare to meet future challenges.

As a result of the team's ingenuity, the four-year-old Walkerton Clean Water Centre is quickly gaining recognition as an innovative, world-class training institution and centre of excellence in water treatment.

Since 2005, more than 15,000 drinking water operators and professionals across the province have been trained.


Back Row L to R: Venkat Ramani, WCWC; The Honourable John Gerretsen, Minister, MOE; Omar Alshikh, WCWC; Maurice Oduor, WCWC; Dr. Souleymane Ndiongue, WCWC; Kelly Fransen, WCWC; Katherine Campbell, WCWC; Corinne Louther, WCWC

Front Row L to R: Orna Salamon, Director, Drinking Water Programs Branch, MOE; Krys Potapczyk, Assistant Director/Manager, Stakeholder Relations, MOE; Linda Thompson, WCWC; Devendra Borikar, WCWC; Paula VanVeen, WCWC; CEO Dr. Saad Jasim, WCWC; Lissa Irwin, WCWC; Patricia Ruetz, WCWC; Dr. Housseini Coulibaly; Kevin Flynn, Parliamentary Assistant, MOE