Sewage Overflows
The Issue
Most of the time, water quality in the Ottawa River is great for recreational activities. However, that is not always the case.
When it rains or when snow melts, untreated sewage often flows in the river from combined sewers. These can pose a risk to public health, however the public are not informed of these overflows in real-time.
The City of Ottawa is currently working on Combined Sewer Storage Tunnels (CSST) to further reduce the amount of untreated sewage flowing into the river.
How Are We Helping?
Ottawa Riverkeeper has spearheaded a letter-writing campaign, encouraging people from Ottawa and Gatineau to ask their mayors for real-time reporting of sewage overflows. We have also worked closely with both cities to research solutions to real-time reporting, released a comprehensive report on report on water quality in the Ottawa River, and conducted numerous media interviews to spread awareness on the issue.
While we have seen some promising progress on this file, we will continue to work on it to increase transparency and ultimately end these overflows.
Take Action
If you’d like to take action to address this problem, our new CSO Toolkit can provide you with the means to do so in your community!
We deserve to know when our water isn’t safe and which areas we should avoid at certain times. (You can read our report on water quality in the river here).
Our Resources
Blogs and Pages
More than 3,000 letters sent (November 2017)
Brewery Creek and beyond: our report on water quality in the river (October 2017)
6 Questions for your Municipal Election Candidates (October 2017)
Celebrating Action on Sewage (April 2015)
Montreal Sewage Dump (November 2015)
Gatineau to release 20 million litres of untreated sewage into the Lièvre River (October 2016)
Water Quality in the Ottawa River (August 2014)
Federal Government Announces Infrastructure Funding (February 2014)
Publications
Tackling Combined Sewer Overflows: A Toolkit for Community Action (October 2018)
Brewery Creek and Beyond: The Problem with Combined Sewer Overflows in Ottawa & Gatineau (October 2017)
10 Things You Can Do For Your River (Urban Guide) (June 2012)
Multimedia
Thank you to the following funders, who support this important work: