Media Release
Update: Cause of October 3-4 equipment failure at Hamilton’s Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant determined
HAMILTON, ON – On October 5, 2021, the City of Hamilton shared that during the heavy rain fall overnight on October 3 to 4, 2021, the City’s Woodward Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant experienced an equipment failure that resulted in wastewater being discharged into Hamilton Harbour without treatment. The City has since determined the probable cause of the equipment failure and submitted the conclusions of the investigation to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation & Parks (MECP).
This past summer, the City of Hamilton began commissioning the new main pumping station as part of the ongoing, multi-year capital upgrades at the Woodward Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant. During the 60-day testing period for the new pumping station, the City continued to use the old pumping station during periods of high flow, and as a back up to ensure the new pumping station was operating reliably. It was determined that when the old pumping station was engaged, excessive solids (rags, plastic, etc.) were drawn through the pumps and pumped through the headworks. This resulted in the failure of two of the plant’s four bar screens which forced a temporary full plant bypass to avoid permanent damage to the facility and surrounding infrastructure, and flooding in the upstream wastewater system.
It is believed that the solids that caused the bar screen failure had settled to the bottom of the old pumping station wet well during its periods of inactivity and were drawn into the pumps that were activated on the night of October 3, 2021. As the construction of the new main pumping station at the Woodward Avenue Wastewater Treatment Plant approaches completion, the old pumping station has since been taken offline permanently as works are progressing to fully connect the new main pumping station to the plant headworks (after which the old pumping station will be demolished), and as a result the scenario is unable to be repeated.
The City has followed all of the necessary reporting requirements in our Environmental Compliance Approval and have reported the incident and subsequent findings to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation & Parks (MECP).
As a reminder, details of current and historic overflow and bypass events are available on the City’s website: www.hamilton.ca/WastewaterMonitoring.
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