Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant in bypass: new public monitoring and reporting process

HAMILTON, ON – Last month, Hamilton City Council approved an enhanced public notification protocol for bypasses at the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant.

As of yesterday at 12:03 pm, the amount of wastewater entering the sewer system exceeded the capacity at the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the plant began bypassing partially treated wastewater into Hamilton Harbour.

This is the first bypass since the new enhanced public notification protocol has come into effect.

Bypasses occur in extreme wet weather, when the amount of wastewater entering the sewer system exceeds the capacity of the treatment plant. Yesterday, the rain combined with melting ice/snow exceeded the capacity of the treatment plant.

Going forward, the City will publish a brief PSA within 24 hours of a bypass event at the Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant.  

As a reminder, in addition to the enhanced public notification protocol, the City also launched an educational video to help explain how combined sewer systems work.

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

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