According to official data during a rainfall on Sunday night there was a power failure and about 3 million liters of polluted water was drained into the Assiniboine River.
This is not the first such case in recent times. In mid-June, when a power failure occurred at the same lift station, about 2.5 million liters of sewage was poured into the river. This happens at Aubrey Lift Station on Palmerston Avenue.
A representative of the city authorities said that there is a special storehouse in the sewer network that keeps water during a malfunction until the problem is eliminated. However, during the rain it was quickly filled with rainwater. The tanks were crowded from 11 pm to 3 am.
City water & waste committee chair Brian Mayes said that the main problem is a combined sewage system, which is very outdated. He noted that this problem concerns not only Winnipeg but also the majority of Canadian cities.
By 2045, the number of flows through this type of sewer should be reduced by 85%. $330 millions have already been invested in the project on the separation of sewage systems.
The ingress of dirty sewage into the Assiniboine River is very dangerous for the environment, so it flows into Lake Winnipeg.