It’s time to check your sump pump!!

The sewer system in Westport was examined by CCTV in 2018 and found to have no breaks.  Good news!  The majority of the openings into the sewers from the street have been repaired in 2018, only a few remain for 2019.  Also good news!

A sewer system is a closed system – responsible to transport sewage.  The government has licensed the Village for a maximum amount of volume to be processed, which averages 350 m3/day.   The amount of water drawn from the water tower should equal the amount of sewage pumped at the Glen St station.  Earlier this week 186 m3 was drawn from the water tower and 705 m3 was pumped at the Glen St station.  And the flows each day show similar results.  

The cause?  Illegal connections – ie  discharging your sump pump directly into the sewer system.  

This is not a just a concern for the municipal government, it is or should be a serious concern of every resident. Our new waste water system has enough capacity for an additional 350-400 homes, when processing only sewage.  Seriously!!  The future and sustainability of the Village depends on reducing the illegal connections. Simply put, to increase our tax base through development, we need to work together to solve this issue and provide sewage capacity for new construction. 

To that end, the Village has recently increased the fines for illegal connections.  A first offence has been raised to $500 and any subsequent offence is now $2000.  Yes,  Village Council is taking this matter seriously.  The industry standard states the discharge from 1 sump pump is equal to the combined usage of 35 homes.  That is a lot of rain water being sent to through the sewage system.

What can you do?

• if you are not discharging your sump pump outside on your property, you likely have an illegal connection
• the Village is offering a $250 grant to help reduce the cost of converting illegal connections
• ask your neighbours “Where does your sump pump dump?  Getting this matter resolved is important for all of us and who better to influence neighbours to convert illegal connections than you?

Happy to discuss these concerns.   Call anytime – 273-9195