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The city sewer system’s troublesome Keefer regulator is operating normally after a malfunction Friday caused a large spill of sewage into the Ottawa River.
Dixon Weir, general manager of environmental services at the city, reported Tuesday that the spill was about 8,000 cubic metres (eight million litres), which began after midnight and ended at 4 p.m.
A steel plate got stuck in the Keefer regulator, which channels waste down to a sewer line and along to the waste-treatment plant in Gloucester. Sewage then went into the bypass and directly into the river, not far from the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive.
Beaches remained closed downriver from the spill and people were advised to avoid body contact with the water.
The Keefer regulator is the same device that jammed open in 2006, allowing a billion-litre sewage spill. The city was fined for failing to report the incident to the Ontario government. The city is upgrading the regulator devices to avoid sewage spills.
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