sewage

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

A century of water: As Winnipeg aqueduct turns 100, Shoal Lake finds freedom

A century of water: As Winnipeg aqueduct turns 100, Shoal Lake finds freedom

The taps to Winnipeg's drinking water were first turned on in April 1919, but as the city celebrated its engineering feat and raised glasses of that clear liquid, another community's fortunes suddenly turned dark. Construction of a new aqueduct plunged Shoal Lake 40 into a forced isolation that it is only now emerging from, 100 years after Winnipeg's politicians locked their sights on the water that cradles the First Nation at the Manitoba–Ontario border. "The price that our community has paid for one community to benefit from that resource, it's just mind-boggling," said Shoal Lake 40 Chief Erwin Redsky.

Raw sewage dump in St. Lawrence River branded preposterous and perverse

Raw sewage dump in St. Lawrence River branded preposterous and perverse

Environmentalists are outraged by a "preposterous" large sewage dump into the St. Lawrence River near Montreal and a "staggering" number of smaller, chronic sewage overflows throughout the year in Quebec. They are calling on municipal and provincial governments to be more ambitious in their attempts to monitor and mitigate the release of toxic wastewater in waterways.

Raw sewage overflowing into Ontario waterways at alarming rate, watchdog says

Raw sewage overflowing into Ontario waterways at alarming rate, watchdog says

Raw sewage has been overflowing into Ontario's lakes and rivers at an alarming rate and the government is doing little to stop it, the province's environmental watchdog said Tuesday as she laid out broad changes required to help keep waterways clean. Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe outlined her concerns and recommendations in an annual report — called Back to Basics — that looked at the state of the province's waterways between April 2017 and March this year. During that time, the report found that raw sewage overflowed into southern Ontario waterways 1,327 times. More than half of those overflows — 766 — were from nearly 60 outdated municipal sewer systems that combine sewage and stormwater.

'It's pretty embarrassing': Winnipeg aims to put less poop in river

'It's pretty embarrassing': Winnipeg aims to put less poop in river

Some 3.2 million litres of raw sewage and rainfall runoff spilled into Winnipeg's river system last month but the incident was unusual only in scope. The amount -- more than an Olympic-sized swimming pool -- was one of the largest spills in years, but was one of about 20 such events that occur each year.

Majority of Canadian cities don’t monitor real-time data of sewage leaks into lakes, rivers

Majority of Canadian cities don’t monitor real-time data of sewage leaks into lakes, rivers

There, in plain sight and floating around the docks and pedestrian bridges along the waterfront of Canada’s biggest city, was a toxic stew of used condoms, plastic tampon applicators and mounds of shredded toilet paper, along with a countless quantity of other, unidentifiable solids.

Iqaluit residents speak out on trucked water, sewage services

Iqaluit residents speak out on trucked water, sewage services

The public gallery at Iqaluit city hall was packed for Thursday night's public consultation on a bylaw that governs the city's water supply and sewer service. However, with increasing water restrictions due to low levels in the city's water supply from Lake Geraldine, people came out en masse to talk about water usage in general.

Untreated sewage pollutes water across the country

Untreated sewage pollutes water across the country

Nearly 120 million cubic metres of untreated sewage and runoff entered Canadian waterways in 2016, StarMetro has learned.
That’s roughly the same amount of water that roars over the edge of Niagara Falls over the course of 12 hours — except it’s not whitewater spewing from these pipes. It’s murky, brown and a little bit chunky.