Season’s rainy weather will cost ratepayers
Niagara property owners could end up getting soaked due to the excessive rain that hit the region in May.
As a result of wet weather during the past month and large amounts of rainwater infiltrating sanitary sewers throughout the region, Niagara’s wastewater treatment plants treated nearly twice the normal amount of sewage.
Jason Oatley, Niagara Region’s acting associate director of wastewater operations and laboratory services, said 9,046 megalitres (more than nine billion litres) of sewage was treated at Niagara’s wastewater plants during the month. On average, the region treats about 70,000 megalitres of sewage per year, which would be about 5,833 megalitres a month, Oatley said in an email.
The cost of treating additional rainwater is ultimately charged to Niagara’s local municipalities.
“It is an issue for us,” said Welland Mayor Frank Campion. “I think our council has recognized that we’re treating way more water than we’re selling, so there’s definitely infiltration.”
It has made it extremely difficult for municipalities to develop water and sewer budgets.
“Every year it’s an unpredictable commodity, and you just don’t know what the end result is going to be until you get the end result,” Campion said.
“It’s part of this climate change. We’re getting more water and it clearly identifies the need to ensure that we’re not treating water that shouldn’t need to be treated.”
In past years, heavy rainfalls have led to budget shortfalls for Welland. He said that could happen again this year.
“It sounds like it would be a similar situation. It’s going to cost us more money,” he said.
Niagara Falls municipal works director Geoff Holman said his city shares the same concerns — paying for treatment of water “that normally can be discharged into the natural environment.”
“Weather is playing a huge role in the cost of wastewater treatment across Niagara,” he said.
Although the Niagara Region averages annual sewage flow charges over a three-year period, the bills still come due eventually.
“It doesn’t stop the pain, it just dulls it for a while,” Holman said.
The solution is to keep rainwater out of sanitary sewers, and it’s something that municipalities across Niagara are working towards. But that, too, is a costly proposition.
With the assistance of the Region, municipalities are investing in sewage separations projects and downspout and weeping tile disconnection programs in the hope of preventing stormwater from infiltrating sewers.
But property owners haven’t been as receptive to the idea as hoped, despite subsidies that should cover the full cost of the upgrades — including up to $5,000, as well as the cost of a back-flow valve, weeping tile disconnection, sump pump installation and a secondary sump pump as well.
“The people that have had basement flooding are all on board, of course. They want to have their systems made more resilient,” Holman said. “But the ones who are contributing to the problem but don’t experience the problem (of basement flooding) are not lining up to take advantage of our weeping tile program that we have in place in Niagara Falls.”
St. Catharines environmental services manager Mark Green said the city offers grants up to $3,500 to help cover the costs of installing sump pumps and back-flow valves.
While Holman said Niagara Falls is toying with the idea of making its program mandatory for owners of about 2,800 homes that have weeping tiles and downspouts connected to sanitary sewers, other municipalities including Welland and St. Catharines opted against a mandatory program fearing it would be too intrusive for homeowners.
Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn said the solution won’t be cheap. Completely separating storm and sanitary sewers, relining or replacing leaky pipes, and removing downspouts and sump pumps connections on private property will cost millions. Even installing backflow valves in basements will cost about $1,100 per home, he said in an email.
Last week, the Region’s public works committee discussed an update to the upper-tier municipality’s year-old Water Wastewater Master Servicing Plan that will guide infrastructure development for the next 25 years.
St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik said implementing that plan will mean the investment of “a lot of money.”
“But I think the public needs to see how much needs to be invested for having the kind of water we have and protecting our environment,” Sendzik said.
“It’s good to have the 25-year plan in front of us, but it’s also an opportunity to ask questions of ‘Are their better ways today then there were 50 years ago to treat wastewater and release it back into the system?’” he said. “That’s the questions I’ll be looking at: With each new facility that we build, how has technology reduced our costs and also improved the quality of the treatment?”
Augustyn is concerned that the updated plan does not address concerns about the environmental impact associated with bypassing sewage treatment during excessive rainfalls.
In addition to the billion litres of diluted sewage that was bypassed at Niagara wastewater treatment plants, he said a significant amount of sewage was also dumped at sewer pumping stations throughout the region throughout May.
Augustyn said the region’s plan is not designed to stop sewage overflows, but only mitigate problems.
Campion said at least Niagara municipalities are monitoring the problem.
“That’s really critical information, that we’re aware of it and we need to mitigate the possibility of it happening further, while also mitigating the cost associated with it,” he said.
“We’re in a position now early that we can try to do something about it, but there may be nothing we can do. Who knows what the rest of the year is going to hold for us, but at least we have an awareness of it.
“That’s the really important part.”