Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is the Ottawa River Action Plan? What is the Ottawa River Action Plan?The City has a working plan to protect the Ottawa River from the adverse effects of wastewater. Over the next five years, 16 approved projects aim to reduce the number and volume of wastewater discharges to the river. Several projects are already underway to:
What are the long-term goals of the Ottawa River Action Plan?In 2010, further consultation will be carried out to establish long-term objectives and plans for the watershed. Phase Two of the Action Plan will examine a broader range of environmental, economic and social issues, and identify community priorities, targets for the Ottawa River, and the tools needed to achieve them. What is a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO)?Most new sewer systems collect rainwater and sewage in separate pipes. However, Ottawa’s older systems were built to collect rainwater and sewage in the same pipe (combined sewers) or to allow foundation drains and roof downspouts to drain into the sanitary sewer pipe (partially separated sewers.) These systems work well in dry weather but during wet weather the volume of stormwater in the pipes can exceed the system’s capacity, and some wastewater must be released into the Ottawa River. Approximately 800 communities in North America have combined sewer systems and incur wet weather overflows (i.e., Kingston, London, Toronto, Montreal and New York.) Is this a new problem?No, this situation has existed for as long as sewage has been collected in Ottawa. Until 1960, it was standard practice for municipalities in North America to discharge all of their raw sewage to rivers and water bodies. When a new large interceptor sewer and treatment system was introduced in 1959, existing sewers were modified and more than 95 per cent of the sewage collected was sent for sewage treatment. When the capacity of this interceptor is exceeded during wet weather, overflows occur. It was then, and remains now, impractical to build interceptors and treatment plants large enough to handle high flows during wet weather. How much overflows to the river today?Today, we capture and treat more than 99 per cent of collected sanitary and storm flows, one of the best capture rate of Ontario cities with combined sewers. The flow not directed to treatment — less than one per cent — is discharged to the Ottawa River in the form of combined sewer overflows during wet weather events. How did we achieve a 99 per cent success?
What is the City of Ottawa planning to do to further reduce overflows?Several Ottawa River Action Plan projects will help to further reduce the frequency, volume and impact of combined sewer overflows to the Ottawa River.
What is the CSO Control Environmental Assessment?The purpose the Ottawa River Action Plan’s Project 3 is to reduce the frequency and volume of combined sewer overflows to the Ottawa River. Before proceeding to detailed design, the project must undergo a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment. Phase 1 of the Environmental Assessment asks the community to determine what level of CSO control is appropriate. Three options have been developed for public consideration. All three options will reduce overflows to two overflow events in the average year, but range in price from $40 million to $2.2 billion. What three options are being proposed by the City to reduce the overflows?All three options will achieve full regulatory compliance (i.e., two overflow events in the average year.) However, none of the options will completely eliminate overflows. In extreme wet weather events, the collected water must be directed away from communities to avoid sewer back-ups.
What is the cost to the taxpayer of each of these options? What does that mean in terms of additional costs per year on the average tax bill?The price ranges are as follows:
All three options require continued separation of approximately 185 hectares of the combined sewer at an additional cost of $250 million. The cost per taxpayer will depend upon whether the project is rate funded or tax funded. All three options achieve regulatory compliance; however, Options B and C move beyond compliance, and the cost difference may be more appropriately funded by taxes. What is the Ultimate Combined Sewer Area?The City’s current strategy leaves an area of the original combined sewer area unseparated. This 675-hectare area, comprising much of Centretown and the Glebe, is known as the Ultimate Combined Sewer Area. When sewers in these neighbourhoods require rehabilitation and replacement they will not undergo separation, but will be replaced with new combined sewers. Why doesn’t the City plan to completely eliminate the discharge of CSOs?Complete elimination of CSOs would involve construction of up to 300 kilometres of sewers, and removal of foundation drain connections from up to 58,000 private homes and buildings by replacement of service laterals and the installation of sump pumps. It would take more than 50 years of highly disruptive work, and would cost up to $2 billion. Furthermore, the complete elimination of CSOs is not supported by the river model analysis, which indicates that there would be minimal environmental benefits in moving from 99 per cent to 100 per cent capture and treatment of sanitary flows. Finally, there are other environmental protection projects that would have much greater benefits. Do CSOs affect our drinking water?Drinking water is NOT affected. The quality of Ottawa’s drinking water is excellent and among the best in the province. Maintaining this rating is one the City’s key health priorities. How much overflows to the river?The following table shows that the volume of overflows is directly related the number and size of wet weather events.
In the average year, approximately 400 thousand m3 — about 180 Olympic-size swimming pools — of combined sewage overflows to the Ottawa River between April 15 and November 15 (the MOE defined Control Period). This is less than half of one per cent of the 92 million m3 of flows collected during the control period, and equates to the volume of water in the Ottawa River that would pass by the Britannia monitoring station in six minutes.1 Where do the CSOs take place?There are 18 combined sewer overflow outfalls in the City of Ottawa that discharge to the Ottawa River and Rideau River. However, six of the outfalls account for more than 97 per cent of all overflows: the Rideau Canal, Booth, Keefer, Cathcart, Manor Park, and Cave Creek. All but Manor Park and Cave Creek are presently under reconstruction as part of the Real Time Control initiative (Project 1). This situation is limited to a well-defined area of the city. Communities constructed outside that area do not contribute to this problem. Is this happening more often? I read in the newspaper that as of October, more than triple the average amount has spilled into the river. Is that true?The volumes reported shortly after an event are coarse “order of magnitude” estimates; it takes time to get more realistic estimates that take into consideration the many factors that affect the volumes discharged. These numbers are prepared later and reported at year-end. Since the City of Ottawa has to report volumes right away, we report very conservative numbers derived with simple tables. Overflows to the river occur during wet weather because the storm water overtaxes the sewage collection system in the older parts of the city. The more it rains, the greater the volume of overflows. The more frequently it rains, the more frequent the overflows. This has been a rainy year; therefore there have been a lot of overflows. Fewer overflows occur in drier years. Is there a health risk to the public from these combined sewer overflows?From late June through till late August, the City of Ottawa operates an extensive beach water quality monitoring program at all City-recognized beaches, including Mooney’s Bay, Britannia, Westboro and Petrie Island. “No-Swimming” advisories are issued when the water contains levels of bacteria that exceed levels recommended by the Medical Officer of Health, and provincial and federal guidelines for recreational body contact. Daily beach water quality reports can be accessed at ottawa.ca/health during the swimming season. Does climate change have an affect on the number of times overflows occur?Climate change research and modeling suggests that Canadian annual precipitation volumes have increased and that the intensity and frequency of heavy storms has increased. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of the Environment and various other regulatory authorities (conservation authorities and municipalities) provide storm water management design recommendations. Very few recommendations account for the potential impacts of future climate change. What is the current level of pollution in the Ottawa River? Where is it coming from?The City of Ottawa’s Baseline Water Quality Monitoring Program provides more than 10 years of data regarding Ottawa’s surface waters, tracking water quality in six rivers and 29 creeks most of which are tributaries to the Ottawa River. Data collected show that poor water quality can be found in both urban and rural streams. Water quality tends to degrade as tributaries become smaller and are less able to tolerate pollution. Generally, water quality in the Ottawa’s major rivers is good to excellent. This is good news for residents in general and for swimmers, boaters and anglers in particular. During wet weather, combined sewer overflows contribute the largest loadings of bacteria to the river from these sources; stormwater is the largest source of other contaminants, including metals. What about the impact from the Gatineau Wastewater Treatment Facility on Petrie Island?While the City of Gatineau does not currently disinfect its sewage treatment plant effluent, hydraulic modelling has shown that the effluent plume from this facility stays quite close to the Quebec shoreline and contributes approximately two per cent of the E.coli at Petrie Island during wet weather. Is the City working with other jurisdictions to address pollution of the Ottawa River?The City of Ottawa is working with federal and provincial officials, and the City of Gatineau to address monitor and reduce pollutants and to maintain the health of the Ottawa River. Have key stakeholders such as the Ottawa Riverkeeper been consulted? What is difference between a combined sewer overflow (CSO) and a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO)?Unlike the planned combined sewer overflows, a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is a spill of raw sewage and untreated sanitary wastewater into the natural environment that occurs as a result of an accident, equipment malfunction, or flooding from an extreme weather event. These spills release concentrated sewage into the environment and do not occur as a result of normal operations. If a spill occurs, it is investigated and reported to the Ministry of Environment, the Spills Action Centre and downstream users. What is Real Time Control?Real Time Control is an electro-mechanical system that allows for continuous monitoring of pipe flows, and automated control of equipment in order to maximize the capture and treatment of wastewater flows within the combined sewer system. What does the River Model tell us?A model was developed that allows for the assessment of E.coli as it enters the Ottawa River at various locations and travels downstream to Petrie Island. Results of the model indicate the following: During wet weather, combined sewer overflows from Ottawa and Gatineau contribute the greatest amount of bacteria to the river of all point sources. Stormwater is the largest source of all other contaminants, including metals. During storm events, Ottawa and Gatineau CSOs, and the Gatineau Wastewater Treatment Plant, currently contribute 85 per cent of the loading of E.coli beyond natural occurring levels to the Ottawa River. Once Real Time Control is implemented, the largest source of E coli at Petrie Island during wet weathers events will be from urban creeks, namely Green’s Creek, Voyageur Creek, and Bilberry Creek, due in large part to their proximity to the beach and the poor water quality of urban tributaries. The capture and storage and wet weather combined sewer flows is as effective at reducing E.coli at Petrie Island as full sewer separation, but at a fraction of the cost, and much more quickly. Why will the current Sewer Separation Strategy be reviewed?A long-term review of the program is being recommended to ensure this is the best way to spend City dollars to protect the Ottawa River. Sewer separation creates much more frequent and voluminous storm water discharges into the river, which would otherwise go to the Pickard Centre for full treatment and seasonal disinfection. In addition to bacteria, storm water may contain other matter harmful to the environment, such as metals. Although continued sewer separation reduces the number of (low volume) combined sewer overflow events, it does not dramatically decrease the overall volume of CSO discharged discharged because the areas that remain to be separated contribute less than 5 per cent of the current total volume. It also comes at a significant cost. Does the R.O. Pickard Centre have a major impact on Petrie Island?No, the Pickard Centre does not have a major impact. Recent work has estimated that the Pickard Centre’s impact during wet weather is less than one per cent of the E.coli at Petrie Island. Are combined sewer overflows the result of insufficient treatment plant capacity at the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre?No. The combined sewer overflow situation is the result of the design of the older sewage collection system. What has changed since the June 2009 report submitted to Planning and Environment Committee?Dollar values have been updated to reflect current actual costs or the latest projections based upon the draft 2010 budget. The project numbering was adjusted to allow for ease of presentation at the Open Houses. And, in carrying out the Environmental Assessment for the CSO Storage Project, three options are presented instead of two:
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