Sewer upgrades aim to reduce river sewage spills
Posted Jul 29, 2010 By Charelle Evelyn
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EMC News - Efforts to reduce the amount of raw sewage that makes it way into the Ottawa River have been stepped up with the grand opening of an infrastructure project two years in the making.
Charelle Evelyn, Orleans EMC
Alta Vista Coun. Peter Hume, Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi, federal Minister of Transport and Infrastructure John Baird and Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien announced the completion of improvements to the troublesome Keefer Regulator July 22.
Last week, representatives from the three levels of government gathered along the river to celebrate the opening of the improved Keefer Regulator, a project that is supposed to improve the city's wastewater management and decrease combined sewer overflows
"This is not an environmental issue," said John Baird, federal transport and infrastructure minister and MP for Ottawa West-Nepean.
"It's unacceptable and immoral to dump raw sewage into the river."
A combined sewer is a type of system that collects sanitary sewage as well as storm water runoff in a single pipe system.
The city has five regulators that limit the volume of storm water sent to treatment facilities and prevent sewer backups and flooding during periods of heavy rain or snowmelt.
However, problems with the regulators, particularly the one at Keefer St. and Stanley Ave., have caused millions of litres of untreated sewage and storm water to spill into the Ottawa river over the past couple of years.
With almost $20 million in funding from the federal, provincial and municipal government, the City of Ottawa is implementing real-time control technology at the five regulator sites, which will use electronic gates and computer monitoring.
This technology gives monitoring staff greater control to maximize the capacity of the pipes before any water is released into the river.
These changes bring the sewer technology up to date from the 1950's, according to Michel Chevalier, city manager of wastewater and drainage operations.
He said that the previous system operated much like the flow in a toilet.
Updates to the first two valves were completed in April.
By the end of the summer, all five will be ready to go, said Mayor Larry O'Brien.
"That will reduce sewage overflow by 65%," Mr. O'Brien said, adding that had it not been for the east end councillors bringing the information to his office two years ago, the project may not have ever happened.
In May 2008, Orléans Coun. Bob Monette toured the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre, a wastewater treatment facility, with a group of community association presidents.
While speaking with staff, it was finally disclosed that a spill had occurred that was never reported to city council, which had led to the significant number of beach closures that summer.
"Without your diligent participation and support, we wouldn't be here today," said Alta Vista Coun. Peter Hume, chair of the city's planning and environment committee.
"We all agree that there is nothing more important than breathing clean air and drinking clean water," said Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi.
"It's our responsibility to ensure that we have a clean environment in the city for the good citizens of Ottawa."
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