Sewage flow into Winnipeg waterways significantly jumped in 2022: report

A new report from the City of Winnipeg shows that more sewage flowed into the city’s waterways last year.

According to the city’s 2022 Combined Sewer Overflow Annual Report, Winnipeg saw 2,046 overflow events in 2022, which is up from 910 in 2021.

In total, more than 27,500 megalitres (ml) of raw sewage was released during the 2022 overflows due to heavy rainfall and high river levels. In 2021, there was a discharge of 10,600 ml. A megalitre is a unit of measurement equal to a million litres.

“It goes up and down, the amount that goes into the river as the number of overflows, due to the sheer variability in rainfall,” said Coun. Brian Mayes, who chairs the standing policy committee on water, waste and environment.

The report notes that 75 per cent of last year’s sewage was captured; however, this is below the 85 per cent goal the city had hoped to reach by 2047.

Mayes said he’s disappointed because the report says Winnipeg won’t meet its sewage overflow targets until 2095.

“This report drones on saying, “No, no the target date is still 2095,’” he said in an interview on Thursday.

“That’s a 70-plus year time frame, so I’ve got some serious questions about that.”

Mayes added that he’d like to have a discussion about how much it would cost to reach these goals sooner.

“I do think we owe it to our children and our grandchildren to try to get this thing done in a reasonable time frame and not 70 years,” he said.

The city notes that the volume of sewer overflows varies from year to year due to several factors, including the amount of rain that falls in Winnipeg; the intensity, frequency and duration of the rainfall; and where the rain falls in the city. River levels can also influence the volume of sewage within an overflow.

“If there’s a big rainfall event, there’s risk of water with sewage in it going into the rivers,” Mayes said.

“The plan wouldn’t eliminate all of that, but it would certainly improve the situation quite a bit.”

The water and waste committee will discuss the report at a meeting on Oct. 12.