Dumping raw sewage St. Lawrence River

[Bushmoose]

Look at the bright side, they're stocking the river with brown trout.

How would ya know what ya caught?

[LeakyBoots]

This is temporary while they repair a major section of sewer. Sure its not great, but what is the realistic alternative?

[yellow dog]

Very common that many sewage treatment plants are set up this way after a major rain storm and overall flow goes into a river, lake etc. Many treatment plants are set up directly beside a water system so the effluent water after it has been treated goes directly back into river or lake and in most cases cleaner than the river or lake water it's going into.

[last5oh_302]

How would ya know what ya caught?

The native trout won't have the corn kernel markings.

[Sharon]

some facts:

“I wish there were a magic bullet here, I wish there were other options,” Ms. McKenna said in a conference call from Paris. “This release is far from ideal, but it is needed for the city of Montreal to perform critical maintenance on their infrastructure before winter.
“If we do not allow this to go ahead and there was an unplanned discharge, the long-term impact to flora and fauna could be significantly more.”....................................Ma ny experts in water and wildlife management said damage would be limited because of the immense water flow of the St. Lawrence. Most experts also said the city seemed to have no other choice.
Ottawa’s report, released Friday, said the planned dump could cause harm, but an unplanned release triggered by a possible system failure if the sewage system breaks down would be more harmful. " quote

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle27182162/

[Species8472]

Dumping 8 billion litres of raw sewage is unfortunate but in the big picture it is a proverbial drop in the bucket. The St. Lawrence at Montreal has an average flow rate of around 10,000,000 litres per second. 8 billion litres translates into about 800 seconds of river flow or just over 13 minutes. Dumping the sewage over 8-14 hours results in a dilution factor of roughly 35 to 60x. Downstream mixing/diffusion and additional stream/river inputs will result in the sewage being essentially non-detectable by the time it reaches Quebec City.

Doing it at this time of year also helps as the lower water temperatures allow the river to carry more dissolved oxygen which helps the biology better cope with the sewage.

[trimmer21]

How would ya know what ya caught?

The native trout won't have the corn kernel markings.

They'll know right away cuz they won't be flippin' around in the net.

[Roper]

last5oh - I'm howling! Keep um coming.

This situation is unfortunate but as others have said, probably unavoidable without forcasting the event 10-20 years ago. One thing I will say in their favor - they were up front about it and didn't just dump it without telling anyone.
Hamilton's lower sewer system is antiquated and inadequate. Major storms often result in raw sewage going directly into lake ontario. Their big issue right now is the buried PCB's leaching throughout the east end.

[last5oh_302]

They'll know right away cuz they won't be flippin' around in the net.

I wouldn't be so sure.

[yellow dog]

Dumping 8 billion litres of raw sewage is unfortunate but in the big picture it is a proverbial drop in the bucket. The St. Lawrence at Montreal has an average flow rate of around 10,000,000 litres per second. 8 billion litres translates into about 800 seconds of river flow or just over 13 minutes. Dumping the sewage over 8-14 hours results in a dilution factor of roughly 35 to 60x. Downstream mixing/diffusion and additional stream/river inputs will result in the sewage being essentially non-detectable by the time it reaches Quebec City.

Doing it at this time of year also helps as the lower water temperatures allow the river to carry more dissolved oxygen which helps the biology better cope with the sewage.

I figured you would chime in. Great answer.