ALL TOO OFTEN INSTANT DILUTION IS THE "SOLUTION" TO POLLUTION

The timing after Saturday's posting about Dilution Being the Solution to Pollution is appropriate. Today's Waterloo Region Record is carrying two stories about raw sewage discharges into our rivers, streams and lakes. It is not a pretty picture and here verbatim is the one story titled:

"By the Numbers: raw sewage leaks in Canada"

215 billion litres: Reported amount of untreated sewage flowing into Canadian waterways in 2017.

1.02 trillion litres: Reported amount of untreated sewage flowing out between 2013 and 2017.

269: Number of municipal water systems that are supposed to report sewage outflows to Environment Canada each year.

159: Number of municipal water systems that actually reported sewage outflows to Environment Canada each year.

1: Number of municipalities known to monitor the actual amount of sewage outflows versus a calculated estimate.

36 per cent: Share of total leaks and spills in 2018 that came from British Columbia.

Source: Environment Canada

A shout out to Kingston, Ontario who are the only city in the country to report the actual amount of their untreated sewage outflows.