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OTTAWA – The Ottawa River paid a price for an unusually warm winter day.
About 200,000 litres spilled into the river from the City of Ottawa’s combined sewers on Friday, when the temperature hit 11 C.
The sewers filled from the melted snow, causing the overflow.
It was the first significant overflow recorded by the city in 2011.
Combined sewers collect both sanitary waste water and storm water. Weather events like rain or significant snow melt cause the pipes to overflow and there’s only one place for the liquid to go.
Rough volume estimates from 2010 indicate 891 million litres of overflow from combined sewers went into the river.
The city has said the data is very raw and won’t be finalized until staff complete the number-crunching.
Last year the city upgraded regulators that limit the amount of overflow going into the river. The work is part of a $252-million action plan to reduce overflows.
In 2009, 647 million litres of overflow spilled into the river.
The city plans to install massive tanks underground to catch the overflow.
jon.willing@sunmedia.ca