Environmental Risks of Wastewater Overflows

Underground sewer and stormwater pipes deteriorate over time. They require periodic inspection and maintenance to maximize their service life. Failing pipes can result in:

• Basement flooding which is expensive, disruptive and damaging to personal belongings.
• Sewage leaking to the environment.
• Rainwater and groundwater mistakenly draining to the sanitary sewer system (referred to as inflow and infiltration), which can result in sewer overflows and beach closures.

The CRD and member municipalities proactively inspect and maintain their pipes. It’s recommended that home owners also take action by periodically having their pipes inspected by camera and maintained as required. Learn more about maintenance of underground pipes.

The Municipal Wastewater Regulation stipulates that overflows must not occur, unless during a storm with greater than five-year return period. The Clover Point outfall is the only remaining location in the Core Area wastewater system that does not meet this requirement, excluding Oak Bay combined sewers, which are being managed separately. Currently, Clover Point overflows are predicted to occur for approximately 60 hours per year during the eight largest winter storm events. These overflows consist of highly dilute sewage mixed with rainwater, are generally short in duration, and are predicted to represent a very low risk to the marine receiving environment. One of the CRD commitments in Amendment 13 will be to complete a study assessing the impacts of storm event overflows from the Clover Point long outfall.