Storm Water and Sewage
How we deal with storm water
and sewage has huge impacts on aquatic environments in BC. Urban run off and municipal sewage are among
the largest sources of water pollution in BC.
Municipal Sewage
Municipal sewage – all the waste
that homes, businesses, institutions and industry dump down the drain – can
include bacteria and viruses, fecal matter, toxic household and industrial
chemicals, and oxygen demanding material, suspended solids and hormone
disrupting substances like PAHs. The
impact of municipal sewage depends on a variety factors: the amount of effluent
discharged versus the assimilative capacity of the water; the degree of
treatment; and the types of discharges to the system.
Storm Water
How we deal with storm water
also has a huge impact on aquatic system.
Naturally, large amounts of rain water is absorbed into the ground and
slowly make its ways to streams. As
land is developed and paved or covered by buildings with impervious roofs, the
amount of run off increases and the amount of infiltration of water into the
ground decreases. The traditional way
to deal with the run off is to build storm that efficiently convey storm water
to streams or rivers. There are several
impacts of covering land with impervious surfaces and using storm sewers:
warmer summer water temperatures; water flows in streams are more extreme with
higher waters during rain, and lower waters during dry periods; increased
erosion and degradation of water quality. Also, pollutants from commercial,
industrial, and residential activities are transported by rain and snowmelt
into storm drains that flush the wastes into rivers, lakes, or marine
waters. The end result is a change in
species in streams, with declines in cold water species like salmon or trout
and increases in warm water species like carp and catfish. There are also shifts to organisms that
thrive in polluted water.
Regulation of Waste Discharges
A number of laws regulate
sewage and/or storm water in BC. The
federal Fisheries Act prohibits deposits of deleterious
substances into fish bearing waters.
The province regulates sewage disposal systems through a number of
instruments. The Ministry
of Water, Land and Air Protection has three mechanisms for authorizing
sewage treatment and storm water systems:
·
The Waste Management Act Municipal Sewage Regulation is generally used for systems built after
July 1999 that discharge to surface water, or discharge to the ground at a rate
that exceeds 22.7 m3/day).
·
Systems can
also be permitted under the Waste Management Act
(generally permits are used for larger, older systems).
·
Sewage and storm water systems operated by local
governments can also be authorized
under a Liquid Waste Management Plan (see also Local Governments and the Waste Management Act). Liquid Waste Management Plans usually also
include an Integrated Stormwater Management Plan.
In addition, the Ministry of Health Services has some power to authorize
sewage systems. Smaller systems –
generally septic tanks and fields -- that dispose of waste to the ground are
authorized under the Health Act, Sewage Disposal
Regulation.
Environmental Assessment
Sewage treatment systems and storm water systems may, in
some circumstances, trigger environmental assessments under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. New systems will trigger assessments under
the provincial Environmental Assessment Act if they
serve over 10,000 people, and modifications will trigger assessments if they
increase effluent levels by 30% or more.
Related Guide Pages:
·
Canadian Environmental Assessment
Act
·
Environmental Assessment Act
·
Fisheries Act
·
Local Governments and the Waste
Management Act
·
Sewage Disposal Regulation
·
Waste Management Act
·
Waste Management Act Municipal
Sewage Regulation
·
Waste Management Plans
For more information about Storm Water and
Sewage:
·
Tackling
Non-Point Source Pollution in British Columbia
·
Stormwater
Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia.
·
Sierra
Legal Defence Fund: the National Sewage Report Card
