Wet weather causes wastewater treatment plant bypass and overflow at CSO tanks

HAMILTON, ON - Beginning at 8:53 pm last night, the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant entered bypass mode. Bypasses occur in extreme wet weather, when the amount of wastewater entering the sewer system exceeds the capacity of the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant. The wet weather yesterday and overnight has exceeded the capacity of the treatment plant.

Additionally, at the time of this media release, both the Main/King and Greenhill CSO tanks are overflowing and the Eastwood tank is nearing its capacity.

Information about which CSO tank locations are actively overflowing is available on the City’s website at www.hamilton.ca/wastewatermonitoring. Once the treatment plant bypass and tank overflows are complete, information about the duration and volume will be added to the website.

Combined sewer systems are common in older cities like Hamilton. Constructing combined sewers was the accepted building practice for over 100 years, with most older major cities like Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Windsor having large combined sewer systems.

Additional resources

www.hamilton.ca/wastewatermonitoring
Combined Sewer Overflows in Hamilton (Video)
www.hamilton.ca/sewersystem