Wastewater
Wastewater
Pollution Control: Wastewater
What is Wastewater?
Wastewater is the flow of used water from a community. The characteristics of the wastewater discharges will vary from location to location depending upon the population and industrial sector served, land uses, groundwater levels, and degree of separation between storm water and sanitary wastes. Domestic wastewater includes typical wastes from the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry, as well as any other wastes that people may accidentally or intentionally pour down the drain. Sanitary wastewater consists of domestic wastewater as well as those discharged from commercial, institutional, and similar facilities. Industrial wastes will be as varied as the industries that generate the wastes. The quantities of storm water that combines with the domestic wastewater will vary with the degree of separation that exists between the storm sewers and the sanitary sewers. Most new sewerage systems are separate, collect sanitary wastewater and storm wastes, whereas older combined systems collect both sanitary wastewater and storm water.
Stormwater and Combined Wastewater
Stormwater runoff is precipitation that finds its way across and surfaces into receiving waters. Urban storm runoff is collected and transported in storm or combined sewers. Storm sewers carry stormwater only; combined sewers also carry sanitary wastewater.
Combined wastewater in dry weather is composed of sanitary wastewater. Since the pipes are sized to carry high flows in wet weather, in dry weather they may allow solids to settle out. In wet weather combined wastewater composition at any time depends on the extent to which sanitary wastewater is diluted by stormwater, and is augmented by contaminants in stormwater and in the solids deposited in dry weather and scoured in wet weather flows.
The drains (catch basins) along the curbs of our city streets are connected by sewer pipes directly to our creeks, rivers and Lake Ontario. Whatever goes down the catch basins will flow directly out into the natural environment. Every property in the city contributes to this stormwater flow!
Type of Sewers within the City
There are three main types of sewers within the City of Kingston:
- Sanitary Sewers transport wastewater that we release from a drain, toilet, sink or appliance such as a clothes or dishwasher. This wastewater from residences and businesses flows to treatment plants where it is cleaned before being released into Lake Ontario or the Cataraqui River.
- Storm Sewers capture rainwater or snowmelt from residential and commercial properties. This water flows into nearby watercourses or the lake. Watercourses include creeks, streams and rivers - natural, concrete channels or underground pipes - that carry water, including stormwater and snowmelt from catchbasins into Lake Ontario.
- Combined Sewers: If your home is located in one of the city's older areas, the sewer serving your property may be a combined sewer. In a combined sewer, there is only one pipe, which carries both sanitary and storm drainage. During dry weather, combined sewers carry all contents to treatment plants. However, during periods of the heavy rain or snow melting there are occasions when the combined storm water and sewage flow is greater than the combined system can handle. In this case, rather than allow the flow to flood streets or back-up into basements, the flow is released into the river or lake, being treated with only chlorination. These occasions have been reduced and will continue to improve.
What is Stormwater Pollution?
Most of our rainwater travels through gutters, storm drains, channels, washes and eventually into the major source of our drinking water, Lake Ontario.
Combined Sewer Overflows- What is the problem?
As we mentioned above, it is often difficult to determine any one thing that is causing water pollution. Environmentalist have made great strides over the past 50 years however we are continuously learning more about the impact of our actions on our natural environment and what we need to do about it. During heavy rainstorms and rapid snowmelt, extra flow from stormwater runoff into these combined sewers is greater than the interceptor pipes and treatment plant can accommodate. At these times the combined wastewater (including the stormwater runoff) overtop flow regulator structures, resulting in combined sewer overflows to the Lake and River.