7 hours
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- 6 hours
I’m not saying this happening is okay, but the lack of context about the volume can be misleading. Rules are different in Manitoba but in Ontario plants need to notify the public when there is a spill, which is why I imagine it’s made the news before any details are available. The idea is to inform downstream water users as soon as possible.
10 millions litres is 5% of average daily flow. It’s a very small amount, and the pollition load would be similar to a few days of totally treated sewage.
This article has a bit more info on what happened: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-sewage-spill-treatment-plant-9.7407843
Two automated bypass gates at the North End sewage treatment plant opened unexpectedly at about 1:10 a.m., … “We are still investigating why the gates opened and why the first alarm did not go off.”
I want to be clear I’m not criticising anyone. The fact that they caught it so quickly is honestly amazing. I’ve seen similar issues (that didn’t involve a spill to the environment) go undetected for like, months, because someone assumed the instrument was faulty and didn’t bother to verify.
