Field Test at St-Michel Arena in Montréal: Rainwater Collection and Treatment for Ice Resurfacing

Confronted with a major problem with rainwater management at the Saint-Michel arena, the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc Extension borough of the City of Montreal is conducting a field test of the technical feasibility and economic viability of a system for recovering and managing rainwater to supply the resurfacing machines for one of the arena’s ice rinks. This year-long test will be monitored closely with a number of performance and sustainability indicators. It includes two parts: recovery of at least 90% of the rainwater and creation of a natural retention basin. The water falling on the arena roof will be collected, pretreated, then stored in a tank. It will then go through a filtration system and into an instantaneous water heater to be used in the resurfacer. Surplus water will be channelled to an outdoor retention basin where the flow into the City system will be controlled by a flow regulator. The annual rainwater collected should be sufficient for one of the two ice rinks in the Saint-Michel arena and save over 1,088,000 L per year of drinking water (more than 30% of the current consumption). If the results are conclusive, the borough council will consider using the test system in the arena’s second rink, or at other arenas in the borough. This trail-blazing project– the first attempt of its kind in Canada – has strong potential for replicability as, in Montreal alone, the building division is already interested in using the test system at its 34 arenas that will have to upgrade their facilities sooner or later. (Project description from original funding application)