Ontario and Alberta among the provinces showing improvements
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
According to a CBC report, more than 205 billion litres of raw sewage and waste water made its way into rivers and oceans last year – an amount that could full nearly 82,000 Olympic swimming pools.
Federal regulations introduced in 2012 by the Conservative government mandated that municipalities perform secondary treatments to remove dissolved organic matter in addition to solid waste.
Some municipalities have until 2020 to comply, while others have until 2040.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said older systems could be stretched to their limits as climate change brings more adverse weather.
"Our aging waste water infrastructure was designed for a different climate, and for many municipalities across Canada, when you have a deluge rain event your sewage treatment bypasses the sewage plant and goes right downstream,” she told CBC.
The article sparked conversations online from farmers wondering why municipalities aren’t held accountable when spills occur, but producers are.
"(I) always find it sad that farmers get charged for spills but municipalities never do. Wonder what that is?" Alex Gubbels said on Twitter.
"If (a) spill is big enough it's a statistic, no consequences," Harm Kelly, a dairy farmer from Dunnville, Ontario, also said on Twitter.
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said nearly $2 billion is being invested specifically in waste water upgrades.
Some provinces been proactive in ensuring waste water is treated properly.
Ontario produces the most waste water of any Canadian province and is one of the best in terms of treatment. In 2015, less than one per cent of waste water went untreated, according to the report.
Alberta dropped its untreated waste water figures from eight billion litres in 2014 to under four billion in 2015.
Manitoba, however, saw untreated waste water increase by 70.9 per cent to 12.5 billion litres in 2015.
To see the figures for municipal spills and bypasses in many Ontario municipalities, check out Better Farming’s compilation of data.