Pollution Control: Introduction

Our health and quality of life is greatly dependent upon the quality of our water. We value clean, safe drinking water however; water quality issues are not limited to drinking water.

Fish and other wildlife are also dependent upon the responsible stewardship of our waterways. Prevention of pollutants entering our rivers and Lake Ontario is of critical importance to our community.

In the urban area of our Community, The City of Kingston, through its utility company, Utilities Kingston, is responsible for providing this most valuable resource. We clean the water that comes to your home for drinking, bathing, cooking and other needs. After you use the water, we treat wastewater before it is returned to Lake Ontario. The information on these pages is being provided to help Kingston residents understand how our water and sewer systems are designed to work, how they impact the quality of our natural waterways and how we plan to improve our systems.

What does the water quality of our drinking water have to do with our natural waterways?

Lake Ontario is the major source of Kingston's drinking water. Water is pumped from the lake, treated and distributed to homes and businesses on the City's water system. The Ministry of Environment regulates our drinking water quality. To ensure high quality drinking water to residents of Ontario, the Ministry created a program called Operation Clean Water. This program established requirements for sampling, testing, levels of treatment, licensing of staff, and notification to the Ministry and quarterly reports to the Public about our water quality. We take great pride in the fact that the City of Kingston has consistently received top marks since this reporting system was adopted in late 2000. Even though we know our treatment process results in consistently high drinking water quality, we have a vested interest in improving the quality of our natural water sources.

How can we improve our waterfront, rivers and streams?

Water pollution, as with other environmental concerns can rarely be isolated to a single factor. Pollution sources include:

• Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) contain a mixture of sanitary, commercial and often industrial waste, along with surface drainage. CSOs can contain high levels of nutrients, suspended solids, metals, organic contaminants, oxygen demanding substances, bacteria and viruses.
• Illegal connections of sanitary services to storm sewers can cause contamination with organic wastes, nutrients and bacteria.
• Illegal disposal of household hazardous wastes can introduce waste oil and a multitude of toxic materials to storm and sanitary sewers.
• Lawn and garden maintenance in all types of land uses including residential, industrial, institutional parks, and road and utility right-of-way accounts for additions of organic material from grass clippings, garden litter and fallen leaves. Fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides all can contribute to pollutant loads in runoff.
• Air pollution fallout of suspended solids from traffic, industrial sources and wind erosion of soils builds up contaminants in soil.
• Municipal maintenance activities including road repair and general maintenance (road surface treatment, salting, dust control, etc.).
• Industrial and commercial activities can lead to contamination of runoff from loading and unloading areas, raw material and by-product storage, vehicle maintenance and spills.
• Transportation spills from accidents can occur on heavily traveled arterial streets and highways.
• Construction activity can introduce heavy loads of sediment from direct runoff, construction vehicles and wind-eroded sediment.
• Pet feces and litter introduce organic contamination, nutrients and bacteria.
• Runoff from residential driveways and parking areas can contain driveway sealants, oil, salt, and car care products.
• Vehicular traffic accounts for much of the build-up of contaminants on road surfaces. Wear from tires, brake and clutch linings, engine oil and lubricant drippings, combustion products and corrosion, all account for build up of sediment particles, metals, and oils and grease. Wear on road surfaces also provides sediment and petroleum derivatives from asphalt.

The City of Kingston through its Community Planning exercise has identified a number of strategic actions that will improve the quality of our water in our community including:

• Performing routine street sweeping and catchbasin cleaning;
• Requiring for stormwater management provisions in new and redevelopments;
• Implementating new technologies for stormwater treatment
• Separating sewers into storm and sanitary systems as well as retrofitting combined system with oversize pipes to minimize basement flooding;
• Inspecting sewer systems with cameras to identify structural deficiencies and infiltration routes;
• Constructing storage facilities to minimize Combined Sewer Overflows
• Testing new technologies for Combined Sewer Overflows treatment

The benefits of these pollution prevention actions include:

• Minimizing the use or avoiding the creation of pollutants;
• Preventing the transfer of pollutants from one medium to another, i.e., reducing air and land pollution;
• Promoting the development of source reduction technologies and using alternative methods;
• Using energy, materials and resources more efficiently;
• Reducing future liability for industries, commercial establishments and municipal departments, especially if carried out as part of a formal Environmental Management System;
• Recognizing that waste is a cost that can be reduced;
• Avoiding costly clean up in the future;
• Recognizing water as a resource;
• Enhancing the local living environment.