Bad sewer connections: measures will be taken in the fall

The problem of bad sewer connections on L'Ile-des-Soeurs isn't really news; it has been known for years. A number of articles have been written about the problem in Le Magazine and, even this past week, an editorial was written on the subject.

In 2003, Verdun started testing each of the Island's 8,300 households. Tests came to an end in 2005. The file was then referred to the City of Montreal who analyzed various options to force the owners of the affected residences to make the necessary corrections. The 48 households are aware of the situation, but have not yet been informed in an official capacity.

The procedure is as follows: food colouring is flushed through toilets while other workers check to see which pipe –sewage or storm—the coloured water goes into. If the coloured water is found in the storm pipe, it confirms that it's a bad connection, but that does not however, confirm where exactly, in the building, the faulty connection has occurred. The responsibility falls on the homeowners, who, one may assume, are not in any hurry to conduct work that may cost them substantially.

The file is much more complicated than it may originally appear. The bad connections may have occurred because of the work of an inexperienced worker or a mistake made during the initial construction of a building. It may also be that the bad connection was made outside of the building, with the municipal water network.

Does the municipal administration have any responsibility in all of this? If the bad connections were made during construction, then municipal inspectors might have to explain themselves. That being said, Public Works director, Pierre Boutin, elaborates that inspectors, at the time when the buildings were constructed, may have only had the mandate to approve the plans, without having to ensure their execution.

To add to the complexity of the problem, it will only be in the fall that more sophisticated tests will be able to be conducted, when the river's water level decreases. It's also in the fall that the borough, together with the City of Montreal, will determine the measures to take to correct the bad connections.

One should keep in mind that, despite the media attention this situation seems to have garnered lately, it affects the water quality very little. Engineer Cardin has already stated that analyses indicated that an acceptable amount of coliforms could be found only 15 metres away from the exit of the storm drain. Le Magazine will continue to cover the file.