COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS

The Evolution Of Kingston's Sewers

	IN THIS SECTION SEWER OVERFLOW HOME Return to the Combined Sewer Overflows home page.   MAP CSO CONTROL TANKS This maps show the location of Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control tanks and other key features of the city's sewage system. [PDF 442KB]   PDF HELP ADOBE READER The freely available Adobe Reader software can be used to view the PDF documents on the Utilities Kingston Web site.

Like other Canadian Municipalities, the City of Kingston has sewers dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Therefore, much of the original city area is serviced by a combined sewer system. Generally, the combined sewer area is located in the central area and downtown, bordered by Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd to the west, Third Avenue to the North and Lake Ontario to the south and Great Cataraqui River to the east.

Within the Combined Sewer Area, the City of Kingston collects the storm water runoff and sanitary wastewater and transfers it to the Ravensview Water Pollution Control Plant for treatment. During periods of heavy rainfall and snowmelt, the City has been forced to bypass varying quantities of storm water and sanitary wastewater to the Great Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario. The City does this to avoid sanitary sewer backups into homes and businesses in the central and downtown areas, due to the overloading of the sewer system.

Kingston's Sanitary Sewer System Evolution

• 1800s
  City is established and all wastewater and storm water is discharged directly to the lake and river.
• 1950s
  Due to regulatory changes, interceptors are installed to direct all flow to the sewage treatment plant and sewers are separated into sanitary and storm were planned for all new developments.
• 1990s
  The Pollution Control Plan (PCP) is completed and several identified capital works projects are initiated based on report recommendations.
• 2000 to present
  The PCP is updated in 2001, several capital works projects are completed and several more projects are initiated

CITY PLEDGES MORE WORK
TO CUT SEWAGE BYPASSES

You can download a copy of an agreement between Utilities Kingston and the Ministry of the Environment commiting the City to further work to control sewage bypasses.
DOWNLOAD DOCUMENT [PDF]

WATER-QUALITY REPORTS

Utilities Kingston has released the 2006 annual reports on drinking water quality at the Kingston Central and Kingston West Water Treatment Plants, as well as at the Cana Well System in Kingston East.

[GET THE REPORTS]