Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
City officials can’t explain why 260,000 litres of raw sewage spilled into the Ottawa River on Monday. They know all too well why 59 million litres poured into the river on Saturday, however.
The total amount of sewage that has spilled into the river this year is rapidly approaching the billion-litre mark. The tally is at 926 million litres and counting, which city officials say is well above the norm.
Sewage overflowed into the river from the Booth St. regulator site for about 45 minutes Monday morning. Workers discovered the spill on Tuesday while conducting a review of Monday’s flow information.
City officials say the spill was too small to trigger overflow alarms at the site. When staff inspected the site they found the regulator and drop shaft to be in proper working order.
“At this time, there is not an obvious cause or explanation of this overflow,” said Dixon Weir, the city’s general manager of environmental services.
Staff had inspected the regulator on Sunday and it was functioning properly.
Although Monday’s spill is considered minor, a heavy and extended downpour on Saturday caused 59 million litres of sewage to spill into the river. Such overflows are common during heavy rainfalls because the combined sewage and stormwater systems can’t handle the extra water.
The city is installing real-time control systems at five points along the downtown sewer network to try to reduce the amount of sewage that spills into the river.
derek.puddicombe@sunmedia.ca