Montreal sewage dump is over three days ahead of schedule
Southeast interceptor was cause of St. Lawrence sewage dump
#FlushGate is over. Montreal's 30-kilometre southeast sewage interceptor is back in service and raw sewage will no longer be dumped into the St. Lawrence River starting Saturday night.
Repairs to the major interceptor that was behind the raw sewage dump have been completed three days ahead of schedule, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said on Saturday.
The mayor made the announcement on Twitter at 4:44 p.m. ET on Saturday.
DERNIÈRE HEURE: Remise en service de l’intercepteur Sud-Est trois jours en avance sur l’échéancier. Bravo à Richard Fontaine et toute équipe
—@DenisCoderreThe long sewer pipe collects effluent from a network of other sewer lines on its way to the water treatment plant.
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The repairs, which started on Wednesday, were expected to last one week and dump eight billion litres of raw sewage in the river. According to the City of Montreal, the work was completed in 89 hours and dumped no more than 4.9 billion litres of raw sewage went into the river.
The city is still asking people to still avoid contacting the water directly until further notice.
Snow dump repairs means a little more sewage
On Monday, crews will begin further work on a snow dump site connected to the repaired interceptor. Raw sewage will still be dumped into the river for 10 days, but from only one pipe, the city said.
The wastewater will be dumped for seven hours a day at a rate of 0.8 cubic metres per second, while crews are on the job. "It's a question of work health and safety. We can't work with wastewater pouring on our heads," said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin.
For this reason, the city is advising residents in the Habitat 67 and King Edward sector to refrain from contact with the water during the 10 days of work.