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White Rock utilities manager elected to prestigious presidency

Dr. Saad Jasim to head international association concerned with ozone technologies
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Dr. Saad Jasim, manager of utilities for the City of White Rock, with Mayor Wayne Baldwin at last spring’s announcement of $11.8 million in federal and provincial funding for arsenic and manganese treatment facilities for city water. (File photo)

Dr. Saad Jasim, the City of White Rock’s manager of utilities, has a new title to add to his extensive resume.

Starting Jan. 1, he will also function as president-elect of the prestigious International Ozone Association, a city press release issued Wednesday said.

Founded in 1973, the association is a non-profit educational and scientific organization promoting information-sharing and research in technologies dealing with ozone and related oxygen species.

As former director of water quality for the City of Windsor, Ontario, Jasim introduced ozone technology for the city’s drinking water treatment, the release noted, adding that Windsor has “received many awards for the ‘best tasting water’ since that time.”

A member of the association’s board of directors, he has also served a president of its Pan American group. His term as president-elect will be succeeded by the full presidency, starting on Jan 1, 2020.

He is the first Canadian to be elected president of the organization.

Jasim, who joined City of White Rock staff in 2016, is responsible for the city’s day-to-day water operations and has overseen large-scale infrastructure projects such as the completion of the Merklin Reservoir and pumping station.

He has also led research on secondary disinfection and studies with RES’EAU WaterNET to identify the best technologies to provide quality water and provide a significant reduction in naturally-occurring arsenic and manganese in White Rock water.

“His election as president-elect for the International Ozone Association is another indication of the expertise Dr./ Jasim brings to the City of White Rock,” chief administrative officer Dan Bottrill said in the release.

Among awards received by Jasim include the 2016 Georg Warren Fuller Award from the Ontario Water Works Association; the 2011 Harvey Rosen Award from the Internation Ozone Association; the 2008 Emerald Award from the Ontario Ministry of Environment and the 2004 Engineer of the Year Award from Professional Engineers Ontario.