LYNX-PEX™: A Reliable, Canadian-Made Water Service Solution for Municipalities

August 20, 2025

Across Canada, many municipalities still rely on traditional copper service lines or early-generation plastic piping for their water service connections. While these legacy systems have served communities for decades, they come with limitations: corrosion, costly repairs, reduced flow over time, and energy inefficiencies. As infrastructure ages and municipalities face increasing pressure to modernize, the need for a smarter, long-term solution has never been clearer.

Enter LYNX-PEX™ — the Next Evolution in Municipal Water Service Tubing

Proudly made in Canada by CB Supplies Ltd., LYNX-PEX is constructed from durable PEX-b material, known for its strength, flexibility, and long-term performance. Designed to meet and exceed ANSI/AWWA C904, ASTM F876, and CSA B137.5 requirements, LYNX-PEX boasts the industry’s highest chlorine and UV resistance ratings for PEX tubing. It’s also certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 and NSF/ANSI 14, meeting the most stringent standards for drinking water systems. Backed by a worry-free 25-year warranty, it’s built for peace of mind and long-term reliability.

Unlike copper, which can corrode or accumulate mineral buildup over time, LYNX-PEX offers superior corrosion resistance, ensuring clean, high-quality water for decades. Its smoother inner wall surface delivers maximum long-term flow rates, reducing the energy needed for pumping and improving overall system efficiency.

Installation is another area where LYNX-PEX stands out. It’s lightweight, flexible, and doesn’t require special tools, cutting down on installation time and labour costs. With the industry’s maximum UV resistance rating available, and maximum chlorine resistance ratings for PEX, municipalities can be confident they’re installing a product built to withstand Canada’s diverse environmental conditions.

Size & Coil Lengths

Available in CTS OD SDR-9 sizing, LYNX-PEX comes in the following diameters:

¾”, 1″, 1¼”, 1½”, and 2″
To suit a range of installation needs, LYNX-PEX is supplied in continuous coils, lengths include:
100 ft., 300 ft., 500 ft., and 1,000 ft.

Pressure Ratings

Design temperature and pressure ratings for LYNX-PEX Water Service Tubing are:

160 psi @ 73ºF, per CSA B137.0 section 6.6.3.1
100 psi @ 180ºF, per CSA B137.0 section 6.6.3.1
200 psi @ 73ºF, per CSA B137.0 section 6.6.3.2.2

These ratings ensure high performance under varying temperature and pressure conditions typical of municipal applications.

Codes and Standards

LYNX-PEX Water Service Tubing is certified to meet or exceed the following codes and standards:

ANSI/AWWA C904 – Crosslinked Polyethylene (PEX) Pressure Tubing for Water Service
ASTM F876 – Standard Specification for Crosslinked Polyethylene (PEX) Tubing
ASTM F877 – PEX Hot-and Cold-Water Distribution Systems
CSA B137.5 – PEX Tubing Systems for Pressure Applications
NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 – Drinking Water System Components – Health Effects
NSF/ANSI 14 – Plastic Piping System Components and Related Materials
NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 – Drinking Water System Components – Lead Content
International Plumbing Code® (IPC)
International Mechanical Code® (IMC)
International Residential Code® (IRC)
Uniform Plumbing Code® (UPC)
Uniform Mechanical Code® (UMC)
ASTM F2023 – Oxidative Resistance of PEX to Hot Chlorinated Water
ASTM F2657 – Outdoor Weathering Exposure of PEX Tubing

These certifications confirm that LYNX-PEX is not only compliant with North American regulatory frameworks but also engineered for lasting performance in real-world municipal conditions.

LYNX-PEX with Tracer Wire – Built-In Detectability for Added Peace of Mind

For applications where future location and detection are critical, LYNX-PEX Water Service Tubing with Tracer Wire offers a smart, high-performance solution. Manufactured with integrated 14-gauge (AWG) white tracer wire, this tubing allows for quick and accurate detection after installation—minimizing the risk of accidental damage during future excavation or construction work.

Available in ¾”, 1″, 1¼” & 1½” CTS OD SDR-9 sizes, with standard coil lengths of 60 ft., 75 ft., and 100 ft., this variant maintains the same durable, corrosion-resistant PEX-b construction as standard LYNX-PEX. Custom coil lengths, wire gauge and colour of sheathing for wire gauge are also available upon request, providing added flexibility for project-specific needs.

In a time when infrastructure spending needs to be both strategic and future-focused, LYNX-PEX gives municipalities a dependable, Canadian-made solution that improves performance today and delivers long-term value.

Nothing LYNX better!

Michael Boudreau P.Eng.

For more information on LYNX-PEX™ Municipal Water Service Tubing, please visit cbsupplies.ca

The information presented in this article is based on professional experience and a review of relevant materials. Any resemblance to existing articles is purely coincidental.

Let There Be Light – The Right Kind of Light

February 10, 2025

Outdoor area lighting has long been plagued by a seemingly simple problem. Users want efficiency, comfort AND control, all in the same luminaire. But choosing any two can compromise the third. Until now.

Outdoor area lighting has long been plagued by a seemingly simple problem. Users want efficiency, comfort AND control … all in the same luminaire.

But choosing any two can compromise the third. Until now.

Transcending this push-pull was the motivation behind the development of one of Cree Lighting’s most important advances in recent years – our new patented NanoComfort® Technology. Delivering elevated efficiency, precise optical control, and enhanced visual comfort… all in the same luminaire.

So How Do We Manage Glare in Our Outdoor Spaces at Night?

The Illuminating Engineering Society’s (IES) technical definition for glare is “the sensation produced by luminance within the visual field that is sufficiently greater than the luminance to which the eyes are adapted causing annoyance, discomfort, or loss in visual performance and visibility.” DarkSky defines glare as “excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort”. Most of us might have a hard time defining what glare is, but all of us know it when we see it, and unfortunately, we likely see it far too often in our outdoor spaces at night.

If we agree that we don’t like glare, why does it seem so common? First, glare is not a new phenomenon, created by LED luminaires. HID fixtures, the predecessors to LED technology, certainly struggled with glare. Second, non-uniformities in our visual field enhance the perception of glare. An example would be bright headlights approaching you at night. The contrast of this bright source surrounded by darkness can certainly present challenges related to glare. But if that same vehicle, with the same headlights, at the same intensity, approached you during the daytime, there’d be very little contrast and no glare concerns. Unfortunately, it’s likely important to recognize that reducing glare at night is not an easy task. Like headlights at night, lighting fixtures viewed against a dark sky create significant contrast and the potential for glare.

Although managing glare in parking lot applications can be difficult, it is possible. At the same light output – with all other things being equal – more light sources, producing less light individually, over a broader surface area, will be more successful at managing glare than fewer light sources, producing more light individually, over a smaller surface area. Cree Lighting’s OSQ® Series C does the former, and then enhances the visual experience further through its NanoComfort® Technology, sculpting and cutting facets into each optic to relieve glare and harsh light common in other LED products.

Optical systems that can produce light more evenly, over a broader surface area, also help reduce contrast and perceived glare.

Another significant way to reduce glare is to limit the direct view of the light source. For street and area lighting, this means eliminating the use of products that require tilt and moving beyond the belief that tilting and aiming light is a good thing. Both the DarkSky’s Fixture Seal of Approval and Design Lights Consortium’s (DLC) LUNA (Light Usage for Night Applications) programs seek to minimize light pollution, including glare, by limiting the tilting of fixtures to no more than +/- 10 degrees, intended for leveling purposes only. Well-designed products can be aimed parallel with the ground to reduce direct view of the light source, while still optically distributing light effectively on target, with no tilt required.

Eliminating or significantly limiting fixture tilt reduces the view of the light source and the perception of glare.<br />
Image courtesy of Design Lights Consortium (DLC LUNA).

High angle light can also prove problematic as it relates to glare. The IES’s B-U-G Rating system (Backlight, Uplight and Glare) includes elements that try to better predict the amount of glare a given luminaire may produce. In terms of glare, this system pays attention to the amount of light being produced at or above a 60-degree angle (High and Very High Glare Zones) that can disproportionately produce more glare than light being produced at lower angles. This is not a perfect system, and in some cases, higher angle light is required to provide adequate light levels based on wider pole spacings. Even for new construction projects, placing poles more closely together could require more poles and fixtures, leading to more cost and energy consumption. Therefore, B-U-G Ratings may be better suited as a secondary metric, after lighting design has qualified two or more potential products in terms of their ability to achieve the required lighting performance. Once these acceptable solutions are identified, preference could be given to the product with the lowest “G” rating. Specifying a “G” rating first may prove too constraining, and potentially prevent lighting objectives from being achieved.

Light produced above 60-degrees can increase the potential for glare but can also accommodate wider pole spacing.

Shielding can also be deployed to help mask the light source. The downside to this approach is that shielding also reduces delivered lumens, but not energy consumption. When possible, a better approach is to find optically superior products that can limit glare concerns without shielding. However, since glare can be somewhat subjective, and since site-specific conditions can vary greatly, it is unlikely that the need for shielding will go away completely.

Shielding can help mask the light source to reduce glare, also reducing delivered lumens, but not energy consumption.

How Can You Find Optically Superior Products?

The answer is through lighting design…

Lighting design helps validate good-to-great optical design at the application level. Lighting design also provides valuable guidance on appropriate light levels based on the needs of the application and can help reduce the urge to over-light our outdoor spaces. Many fail to realize the problems created by over-lighting at night. It results in overspending (buying more lumens than you need and spending more on energy to produce unnecessary light) and introduces more light into an application than is needed, which leads to increased light pollution, including increased glare.

Today there is more awareness around light pollution, including glare, than ever before. But awareness by itself won’t lead to better outcomes as it relates to glare in our outdoor spaces. Our nighttime environments will only improve one application at a time, and only with knowledgeable participants that are committed to doing better. In some cases, this commitment will mean spending a little more for superior products that more effectively manage glare concerns, while improving the nighttime lighting experience for us all.

… and products and technologies you can count on.

With Cree Lighting’s new patented NanoComfort® Technology, you can eliminate the trade-offs in outdoor lighting. The acrylic optics are sculpted and cut into facets that relieve the glare and harshness produced by the light source without compromising efficacy and optical control. The result, lighting projects that effectively meet the illumination and economic requirements of stakeholders, while delivering a more visually comfortable lighting experience for all of us in our outdoor spaces after dark.

The payoff? Better Light for all.

Peel Region’s Asset Management Journey

June 28, 2024

By Leanne Brannigan, Acting Director, Enterprise Asset Management, Region of Peel (ON)

How do you “do” asset management… and where do you start?

The simple answers are, “Just do it”, and “Start from wherever you are”!

Peel Region Logo Every municipality is at a different place in their journey, and that’s okay. They have differing levels of asset management maturity, differing data and information and different levels of organizational buy in and support. The best tip is to start where you are and reach out to your local communities of practice (yes they exist across the country, I am most familiar with Asset Management Ontario), the Canadian Network of Asset Managers, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities or any of the numerous asset management training partners across the country. Many have free tools to figure out where you are, your best next steps to gap fill, and tools to help you along that journey.

At Peel, we have been on our asset management journey since 2007 (Journey is documented on page 27 & 28 of our EAMP that I have added for reference at the end of this write up). Our leadership recognized that the Region’s infrastructure is necessary to provide service levels that the public expects, achieve Term of Council Priorities, and realize the vision of the Region of Peel as a Community for Life. This realization of our senior leadership that using tangible capital asset accounting (TCAA) data is a backwards looking exercise, and that asset management allowed us to look forward to ensure that we continued to meet the levels of service that our community expected was foundational for our journey. Maintaining existing assets in a state of good repair and building new infrastructure which meets current and future needs is critical to the success of the Region of Peel.

Across the organization we had data and asset information gaps, and the data that we did have was a different levels of maturity, age, accuracy and in different systems and sources. That did not stop us from using what we did have to compile and show evidence of the necessity of an infrastructure levy to support future infrastructure and service delivery and to help establish intergenerational equity. The ones using the infrastructure should be the ones paying for it. Council established our first infrastructure levy in 2008 based on the work that our asset management team did and our journey has continued from there.

Establishing an asset management team soon followed and Peel developed a risk-based approach to asset management. This approach is integrated with the Region’s Strategic Plan and the Long Term Financial Planning Strategy and supports the desired service outcomes and the long term goal of a Community for Life. This did not happen over night and was a slow progression as our maturity developed and we built confidence with the Program and service delivery areas, senior leadership and Council

Today, Enterprise Asset Management is an integral part of the Region of Peel’s strategic and long-term planning practices. It focuses on developing sustainable plans to maintain the infrastructure over a planning horizon that can be as long as 100 years. Guided by the principle of continuous improvement, these plans support Council’s level of service targets and long-term financial strategies. The Region’s Asset Management program is guided by industry best practice, as well as regulatory requirements. The program is continuously evolving to leverage opportunities and address challenges.

The Enterprise Asset Management Plan uses lifecycle models to forecast infrastructure condition, reinvestment needs, and asset related risks to service. The models are specific to the Region’s assets and use the most recently available asset information, allowing us to regenerate risks and recommendations multiple times per year to support Capital Planning, and support annual Public issuing of our Infrastructure Status and Outlook Report which is a report card style report, as well as our more comprehensive Enterprise Asset Management Plan.

However, despite our accomplishments and being embedded in the organization, you are never done in asset management. To support the Region’s approximately $43 Billion of infrastructure we are committed to being a strong steward of the public’s infrastructure assets and are on a continuous improvement journey to ensure continued provision of high quality and affordable municipal services to the Peel community. We are currently supporting the organizational implementation of an Enterprise Asset Management System, development and improvement of decision support systems, integration of climate change adaptation and mitigation into our risk analysis and recommendations and have initiated work on a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy for integration into asset management considerations. It is a journey that makes asset management an exciting, strategic and valuable part of the municipal framework and an enviable profession to be a part of.

Enterprise Asset Management Road Map

Steps in Asset Management Road Map Enterprise Asset Management is an integral part of the Region of Peel’s strategic and long-term planning practices. Introduced in 2007, the program focuses on developing sustainable plans to maintain the infrastructure over a planning horizon that can be as long as 100 years. Guided by the principle of continuous improvement, these plans support Council’s level of service targets and long-term financial strategies. The Region’s Asset Management program is guided by industry best practice, as well as regulatory requirements. The program is continuously evolving to leverage opportunities and address challenges.

Although the Region of Peel’s long-term asset planning program has been in place since 2007, it is still good practice to review the program to accommodate emerging trends. In 2017, the Region retained an independent third-party consultant to initiate a comprehensive asset management program review. The objective of the review was to align the Region’s asset management practices with industry best practices. As a result of the review, over the next several years several initiatives have been proposed. These initiatives will address emerging trends as well as focus on identified gaps.

Changes since the 2018 Enterprise Asset Management Plan

Asset Management Changes

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) division established within the Finance department.
The Region’s Asset Management Policy has been updated to meet the new Ontario Regulation 588/17.
Assets supporting the Affordable Housing service managed by Peel Housing Corporation and Police service managed by Peel Police are incorporated into Asset Management reporting.
Operations and Maintenance costs incorporated into Service areas for full lifecycle costing considerations.

Improvements for the Future

Staff is undertaking many technical studies and condition assessments to improve knowledge of the Region’s infrastructure conditions.
Asset Management planning process improvements are being made across several services to improve investment forecasting and to manage risks to Regional services.
An Enterprise Asset Management System will be introduced to support asset management functions across the organization.
Assets supporting Peel Information Technology Infrastructure and Green Infrastructure will be added to the Enterprise Asset Management Plan in the 2024 reporting cycle.

¹ In accordance with ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 55000

Additional information about Asset Management can be found in the following articles by the Region of Peel.

	“Balancing Act – Troy Mander Helps Peel Manage Its Corporate Assets”; Influents, Winter 2011

	“Integrating Program Asset Management into Strategic Decision Making at the Region of Peel”; Influents, Winter 2011

Better Roads Are Green Roads

June 24, 2024

The State of Our Roads

Road and trees The web of roads that cover the inhabited parts of our world connect everything and everybody. They are the circulation network that move people and goods from everywhere to everywhere. From city to city, from country to country, or between houses in the same neighbourhood, we rely on roads to get us where we need to go. They are essential. When they are in good repair, they do their jobs well. When they are not in good repair, these roads cannot convey people and goods efficiently or at all.

Most of the roads in Ontario are built and maintained by the provincial government and the municipalities, with the majority of those being municipal. Ontario has over 365,000 lane-km of municipal roads, ranging from urban expressways to quiet rural gravel roads. While many of these roads can be considered to be in good repair, a growing number of them are not.

Ontario’s roads are in a declining state of repair. According to Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO), less than 44% of municipal roads are in good repair. Governments have not been able to keep up with deteriorating roads, creating a repair backlog that stands already at over $20 billion, growing by over $500 million every year. This would be bad enough if today’s traffic volumes were to stay constant into the future, but they are not staying constant. The demands that are placed on those roads continue to grow, with traffic loads doubling every 10 years.

If the repair backlog continues to grow at its current pace, a tipping point will be reached where it will become impossible to maintain most of the road network in good repair. The main obstacle to addressing this situation is not a lack of will on the part of municipal leaders and road departments. They are only too aware that the roads they build and maintain are steadily falling apart. Allocating ever-increasing funds to build and repair these roads could fix the situation, but municipalities do not have an unlimited source of revenue. Raising taxes is unpopular and imposing tolls has proven to be politically disastrous. Working withing realistic funding limits, the attention must turn to making those limited funds do more. We must find new, better, and less costly technologies, techniques, and materials. Spend less, get more, reduce the deficit, and clear the backlog.

Introducing Green Roads

BioDiffusion Technologies Inc. (BDT) has developed several unique Green Roads solutions using their 100% environmentally safe binder to stabilize and strengthen both driving surfaces and the base material below using existing surface material, recycled aggregate, reclaimed asphalt, or a combination of one or more of those materials. These natural binder solutions include being used as an additive to replace the traditional, environmentally harmful binders typically used for hard surface stabilization. BDT’s binder is manufactured from 100% renewable bio-resins using a proprietary technology at their Cambridge ON plant. When combined with Recycled Asphalt (RAP), aggregate or recycled concrete, it will create a stabilized base or hard surface for roads or walking surfaces with superior hydrophobic properties.

The manufacturing of Green Roads is Carbon-Neutral and zero-waste

Green Roads is manufactured as a concentrated resin which is mixed with water before application. The cold mixed resin can be easily applied to both RAP and existing or new aggregate using a standard metered rear bar application spray truck. The resin is non-toxic and will not harm adjacent water sources, streams, or wildlife. When properly applied and cured, the resin/aggregate mix creates a stronger base using repurposed material resulting in improved performance and cost savings with a longer life cycle. When used as an additive Green Roads provides a low carbon, high RAP driving surface solution.

Photos of manufacturing equipment

Base Stabilization

Standards and specifications exist for several asphalt (bituminous), fly ash calcium chloride, and other stabilization options. All of these options use materials that are environmentally unfriendly, especially with respect to the health of nearby water sources. Green Roads is non-leaching and works extremely well to stabilize the base and does not contain any harmful materials. The product can be mixed into existing or new aggregates and, after curing, becomes a stable, non-shrinking, hydrophobic layer. In addition, improved compaction is achieved with less moisture than is typically required. The result is a stronger base that requires less maintenance. In some cases, the more stable base can allow for a thinner wearing course, reducing construction costs. The base solution can be used directly on a gravel road or can be overlaid with a conventional surface.

Application with metered spray truck

Compacted road base

Increased Utilization of Recycled Asphalt (RAP)

Current specifications in Ontario limit the use of RAP in Hot Mix (HMA) and Warm Mix (WMA) Asphalt to 15% (R15) in surface courses and 30% (R30) in binder courses. Green Roads can potentially be used in applications where the RAP content is 50% (R50) or even 100% (R100). By utilizing higher proportions of RAP while at the same time building longer-lasting roads, the amount of virgin materials required for ongoing maintenance can be greatly reduced.

Case Study

The Township of Puslinch, in collaboration with BioDiffusion Technologies Inc (BDT) and Dufferin Construction, a CRH Company has executed a Green Roads surface stabilization project. As part of this project, Dufferin created a variety of driving surfaces commonly used by townships and municipalities in Ontario to demonstrate the economic value, superior performance, and environmental benefits of building roads with Green Roads bio-resin.

Applying the Green Roads R50 solution to a road surface

The project was designed by Dave Hein, a road construction engineer. The construction work was completed by Dufferin Construction, one of Canada’s leading road contractors.

In the first section, two different warm mix asphalt designs combining Green Roads bio-resin with recycled asphalt (RAP) and virgin materials (R50 mixes) were installed in adjacent lanes. Laying and rolling of the asphalt was done conventionally. The paving process was simple and compaction (>92%) was achieved in the second pass with a 10-ton steel drum roller.

A second section demonstrated a cold applied surface solution. This section involved the installation of 100% RAP (R100) and a precision sprayed application of the Green Roads bio-resin. After preparation of the subgrade, RAP was delivered to the road and graded to an appropriate thickness and profile. The bio-resin was then applied by a standard application truck using a metered spraying process. The RAP and bio-resin where then mixed using a pulverization process, and finally compacted to an appropriate density. Initial observations indicated the creation of a hard driving surface and provided valuable installation data for this cold applied process as BDT continues to develop a sustainable, cost-effective driving solution for low volume roads.

A third section demonstrated the base stabilization potential of Green Roads. This section was designed as a precision-sprayed application of the Green Roads bio-resin combined with the existing material to create a longer lasting surface. The section was initially pulverized, then the Green Roads bio-resin was precision-sprayed by a metered application truck. A second pulverization was used to mix the aggregate and the bio-resin. The surface was then lightly re-graded to ensure proper cross-fall, and surface compaction was completed to determine the maximum density. The final compaction created a superior surface with a density that exceeded traditional base stabilization. When checked after four weeks of public use, the road looked very much as it had immediately after the installation of the trial section and indeed endured through the winter under regular maintenance and show removal protocols.

Conclusion

With a small initial cost to include Green Roads at construction or rehabilitation time, Green Roads extends maintenance intervals, resulting in lower total costs over time. The more stable road also reduces the number of performance “complaints” from the users of the roads.

Because the product works so well with recycled road construction materials, it can help municipalities and townships extend their budgets, build stronger and more resilient roads, and source sustainable solutions to reduce reliance on newly-mined materials such as asphalt or aggregate.

About BioDiffusion

BioDiffusion Technologies Inc. manufactures and supplies superior bio-based binders and sealants that contribute to more resilient and sustainable industrial practices. Easily incorporated into existing processes, their proprietary solutions substantially reduce cost and environmental impact. Their products improve the resilience of roads, concrete, agriculture, mining, construction materials, packaging and other large scale industrial applications while reducing the climate impact from these industries.

For more information about Green Roads, contact BioDiffusion Technologies at +1 519-650-3636, via email at [email protected], or visit their website, https://www.biodiffusion.ca/products/green-roads/.

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