The use of residential secondary or dual water systems for irrigation purposes is common in the western United States where water supplies are scarce. While the use of non-potable water in secondary systems has successfully curtailed demands on potable systems, experience has shown that overall water use actually increases with the introduction of a secondary supply because users commonly pay a fixed fee and have unlimited water use. While water metering and billing effectively reduce water use, there are two main obstacles to the widespread installation of meters in secondary systems. The first obstacle is that standard residential water meters do not normally function in debris-filled secondary water. Metering mechanisms can clog or be degraded by suspended debris of both organic and inorganic nature in the water. By way of innovative meter designs or filtration, a few secondary systems have had success metering their secondary water. Other systems have experimented with possible debris-resistant meters but have had little success. In addition to the physical limitations of water meters, secondary systems face economic obstacles from the increased expense of metering. Since secondary water is intended to be an inexpensive alternative to potable water for outdoor irrigation, any cost increase due to the expense of meters, filtration, meter reading, etc., interferes with the main objective of a secondary system. A system-specific economic analysis is necessary to determine the financial feasibility of the implementation of metering in any secondary system. The objective of this research is to identify feasible ways for metering secondary water systems. An overall analysis is made of the performance, benefits, and drawbacks of each technological approach. Approximate costs and design requirements of these technologies are identified, thereby allowing water suppliers to determine the economic feasibility of metering. In addition, other design precautions for implementing secondary metering and investigations of residential meter performance in secondary systems using filtration are discussed.

Canada's aviation industry aims to reduce its carbon footprint while maintaining safety and operational standards. Hybrid and electric aircraft offer a promising solution to reducing the environmental impact of conventional aviation. However, current limitations in battery technology and the robustness of battery management systems in monitoring and estimating battery states cause significant challenges for their adoption in aviation applications. This research focuses on developing an advanced state of charge (SoC) estimation method for Li-ion batteries used in hybrid aircraft. A new approach is proposed that integrates a merged set of equivalent circuit models capable of simulating battery dynamics at both the cell and module levels. In addition, an innovative dual filter involved in interactive multiple model (IMM) frameworks is introduced, equipped with advanced filtering approaches such as smooth variable structure filter (SVSF). This framework ensures accurate SoC estimation even under varying and harsh operating conditions by testing all developed algorithms in real-time. The developed model is much more accurate than the existing SoC estimation algorithms in the aircraft battery management system. These findings increase the understanding of battery performance in specific aviation conditions and help develop safer and more advanced condition monitoring and estimation methods for hybrid and electric aircrafts. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)