by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
At its July 15 meeting, Essex Council received a report from the Environmental Services Department titled, “Sanitary I&I Inspection.”
The report detailed the ongoing challenges and the work being completed to address inflow – stormwater that enters sanitary from private property connections, like downspouts, sump pumps, and foundation drains – and infiltration – when groundwater enters the sanitary system through defects in private and public sanitary sewers – in the Town.
“When an excess of water enters the sanitary sewer system from I&I [inflow and infiltration], it can cause the system to overload and sewage backup to occur,” Kevin Girard, Director of Infrastructure Services, said when presenting the report on behalf of Rob Mackie, Manager of Environmental Services. “This can ultimately lead to an increased risk of basement flooding and private property damage.”
I&I also puts a strain on the Town’s wastewater treatment facilities, as they have to treat a high volume of water, resulting in an increase in operating, maintenance, and capital costs.
The report was a follow up on Mayor Sherry Bondy’s Council-supported motion in May that directed Administration to create a report discussing the inflow and infiltration to the Town’s storm and sanitary sewers, and potential solutions to help reduce flooding.
Bondy wanted the report to investigate the ability to create an inspection program to identify and repair cross-connections and sources of inflow and infiltration.
Over the last several years, Girard noted, the Town has undertaken a variety of I&I investigations and repairs, such as a manhole inspection program last year that identified any leaks from maintenance holes, insulation of inflow dishes to create a sealed manhole cover type of scenario, and smoke testing within the Colchester South Sewage Treatment Plant service area.
“Along with our robust basement flooding subsidy program, Administration continues to develop and improve the I&I program to a more robust I&I mitigation program. We will be evaluating options to include in the 2025 Budget for Council’s consideration,” Girard explained.
He noted the Infrastructure Services Department has been working with the Communications Department to develop messaging around I&I, detailing its impact on municipal infrastructure and the risk it causes to private basement flooding.
“This messaging, along with a dedicated I&I website, are in the works to promote public education,” Girard said.
In the report, it highlights that if illegal connections are identified, Town staff will work with property owners to understand the issue and what they can do to resolve the illegal connection.
Bondy asked what the Town of Essex can do legally in those instances, and how it can be ensured the issue is fixed.
Girard noted the Town does have a sewage-use by-law that would allow the Town to disconnect the service if a property was not in compliance.
“We always seek voluntary compliance, and generally – historically – we never really had an issue with somebody wanting to resolve the issue that could potentially cause them basement flooding,” he noted, adding the Town will work with a homeowner to identify what the issue may be and provide information on the Town’s subsidy program.
In answering Councillor Joe Garon’s question as to whether or not there is currently concern with I&I, Girard noted every community has an issue with inflow and infiltration. The severity is dependent on many factors, such as age of the community, homes, and infrastructure.
Fortunately, most of Essex’s infrastructure was installed fairly late, Girard added. Newer infrastructure is typically designed to take on a certain amount of extraneous flow.
Essex absolutely has an I&I problem, and increased flows to treatment facilities are noticed during rain events. That is expected, but he said there shouldn’t be as much as there is.
“We are going to have to continue on with this program, we are going to have to invest some dollars to do it,” Girard said, noting the question is how to do so in a fiscally responsible way. It is also important to ensure members of the public know their role in combating I&I, what they can do to protect themselves, and what they can do to reduce the issues going to the rest of the system.
Using smoke testing helps the Town identify potential problem areas. Using a camera and CCTV is the best method, but is costly. The Town is trying its best to come up with innovative ways to tackle the issue.
Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley said anytime there is a rainstorm and the Town gets calls regarding flooding, it is often noticed downspouts are still attached. He is not sure how to get residents to disconnect.
Public education is an ideal way to inform residents, Girard said, noting ideally excess water should be directed to grass, not directly into the system. In some cases, downspouts are connected because they are alongside a driveway or pathway and they are preventing a slipping or tripping hazard.
The Town, Girard added, does have a subsidy for downspout disconnection.
He said new builds are not being connected to the downspout, unless they are connected afterwards.
The Town gets flooding during major rain events, Girard added. Generally, normal rain falls do not cause significant issues in the system. If there are issues, the Town will target communities if there is a need to.
Earlier this year, when Bondy, Shepley, and Councillor Kim Verbeek hosted the development roundtable, I&I was one of the topics that was discussed with those in attendance.
Bondy wants to continue looking at this matter, such as perhaps going door-to-door, as she heard was done in Windsor, to check.
“When we get complaints of sanitary sewage in people’s basements, that is something I never want to experience again. It is one thing to get stormwater, but in the last flood, we had multiple homes in our community getting sanitary sewage,” Bondy said.
It is known storms are getting more extreme, and the Town needs to become more resilient.
She believes the matter needs to be studied.
After last summer’s flood, the Province released the Disaster Relief Grant for the municipality. To her knowledge, the Province did not provide residents with a lot of money through the program, but noted perhaps more is on the way.
“I definitely want to do more on this. I look forward to supporting more of this in the budget, because I think we owe it to our residents to look at all of our programs and see what we can do,” Bondy said.