PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Montreal, April 22, 2020 – On this Earth Day 2020, the Fondation Rivières would like to highlight the very constructive approaches adopted by the Laprairie basin water sanitation authority and the town of Plessisville who took action to protect water quality.
These organizations stood out for implementing initiatives that go beyond usual practices among the approximately 130 systems studied by the Fondation Rivières spread across five Watershed.
The Laprairie Basin Water Sanitation Authority
Little known to everyone, the Régie is the first Quebec organization to have set up a system for disinfecting its wastewater using an ozonation process. It is thus ahead of Montreal, whose studies and work are several years behind schedule. Ozone treatment of wastewater leaving treatment plants makes it possible to eliminate, in addition to coliforms, a whole range of pharmaceutical products, hormones and viruses, all emerging products whose effects can be important and lead, in particular, to genetic changes in species. These contaminants worry scientists about their effects on aquatic flora and fauna, both summer and winter.
The drinking water intakes located downstream which draw water from the St. Lawrence are thus more secure. The ozonation system has been running since 2019 and will be put back into operation on 1er May, until October 30. Such treatment is superior to the ultraviolet radiation sometimes used.
The Régie's wastewater treatment plant serves the municipalities of Candiac, Delson, La Prairie, Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Constant, whose total population is around 100,000 people, in addition to numerous businesses, institutions and four major industries having an impact on the sanitation system. The station also stands out for the implementation of a biomethanization system for its sludge.
The Fondation Rivières salutes the exemplary desire of the Régie to have invested and innovated in this treatment sector.
City of Plessisville
The City of Plessisville stands out for its commitment to eliminating wastewater overflows in rainy weather by 2025. To do this, it must eliminate excess water which comes in particular from drainage systems through gutters and drains. foundation of buildings.
A regulation prohibiting such connections was put into force in 2015 and an inspection of the territory was carried out. Citizens who must carry out costly plumbing repairs to their drainage system will be able to benefit from financial assistance from the City. In January 2020, it created a fund dedicated to adapting to climate change.
The City of Plessisville is counting on the participation of its citizens to eliminate excessive parasitic water at source which currently causes more than 100 annual overflows. The City's objective of eliminating these overflows goes beyond the environmental requirements which allow them up to a certain number, yet to be defined, which appears too permissive according to the Fondation Rivières.
The City is also innovating by developing a new concept aimed at promoting the infiltration of rainwater into the ground. Water flowing into a stormwater system would be infiltrated as much as possible rather than discharged into the watercourse. Knowing that stormwater networks also transport water laden with various pollutants, this approach could prove very promising. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the pilot project could be carried out in summer 2021.
The Town of Plessisville is located on the territory of the watershed of the Bécancour River, of which all municipal sanitation works have been the subject of a performance evaluation within the framework of a mandate awarded by the Bécancour area watershed consultation group (GROBEC).
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For informations :
Justine Fecteau
General Director, City of Plessisville
819 621-8310
jfecteau@plessisville.quebec
Gilbert Samson
Secretary-treasurer, Prairie Basin Water Sanitation Authority
450 638-2163
gilbert.samson@raebl.org
Photo: Noah Buscher/Unsplash
