Like it or not, it’s high time to talk about ... sewage

It’s a subject that seldom comes up at dinner tables. And it’s a major problem most people would rather have someone else deal with.

But listen folks: It’s time people in this supposedly environmentally aware country seriously started to do something about the hundreds of billions of litres of untreated sewage contaminating Canadian waterways, endangering wildlife and threatening human health each year.

What’s happening now is not only unacceptable.

It is, frankly, disgusting.

People in Toronto learned this first-hand this month when a flash-flood rainfall left the city’s harbour waterfront filled with a toxic, bacteria-ridden stew of used condoms, shredded toilet paper and other solids that had come from the toilets of millions of residents.

Now, new data from the federal government reveal how widespread such environmental degradation has become. Canadian municipalities spilled or leaked more than one trillion litres of untreated sewage into the nation’s waterways between 2013 and 2017, including 215 billion litres in 2017 alone, an increase of 10 per cent over 2013.

About two-thirds of the amount reported for last year was deliberately released by municipalities when heavy rains overwhelmed their water systems and the excess water that couldn’t be handled by the treatment plants was released into waterways to avoid having it back up into homes.

The other third was the result of power outages, system breakdowns or leaks.

But whatever the cause, the appalling outcome was terrible for the environment. Poorly treated or untreated wastewater ravages our waterways. Fish and wildlife are harmed or killed.

Other consequences of such human-created pollution include restrictions on drinking-water consumption, beach closures as well as restrictions on fish and shellfish harvesting and consumption.

However, as bad as all this sounds, the federal government’s numbers are nowhere close to accounting for all the raw sewage actually being leaked. Only 159 of the 269 municipal water systems required to report sewage leaks actually did so. And virtually every municipality provides Ottawa with calculations based on computer models rather than real data.

More jarring still is the fact that very few of these spills are ever reported to the public.

The harm being caused by untreated sewage should become a greater priority for politicians and the public. Municipal governments and municipal taxpayers may find other issues more exciting and captivating.

But the quality of our water supplies and the health of our waterways must not be taken for granted.

If we’re truly serious about protecting and preserving our environment, we could start with better reporting and more public transparency. Municipalities that are required to report spills should do so, using real data rather than estimates. Period. Moreover, the public should be told whenever significant spills occur. Of course, all this won’t solve it.

That will take an awful lot of money.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says it will cost cities $18 billion to implement new regulations introduced by the federal government in 2012 that toughen standards for treating wastewater. Even if everyone complies, that won’t be nearly enough money to address a problem that is only expected to get worse. Billions of dollars more are needed.

It may well be that most people would rather think and talk about other things. But our seemingly mundane sewage systems are degrading the health of our environment.

We need to pay more attention to them.