Halifax Harbour has been polluted with untreated water for years, with over 181,000,000 litres per day of untreated water, both sanitary and storm wastewater.
The harbour is one of the best deepwater, ice-free ports in the world. The conditions in the habour have continued to worsen as time passed and without action will continue to do so.
Many attempts have been made during the past decades to implement a Halifax Harbour solution, but only now are the citizens of the Halifax Region finally seeing a strategy implemented. Halifax Regional Council is proceeding with the Halifax Harbour Solutions project, designed to eliminate the flow of raw sewage and other contaminants into the world-famous Halifax Harbour.
The current state of Halifax Harbour shows the significant effects of pollutants discharged to the harbour through untreated sanitary, storm and combined sewer outfalls. As a result:
Shellfish harvesting is prohibited in the harbour;
large areas of contaminated sediment exist around some forty separate outfalls;
water quality is poor along the shorelines;
bacterial contamination is widespread;
and aesthetics are poor along the Halifax/Dartmouth waterfronts due to particulates, floatables and odour.
All of these things have a detrimental affect on the reputation of our municipality and our region, and carry both economic as well as environmental impacts. Therefore, a small-scale, affordable solution has been developed, to be phased in over time, providing basic treatment for all untreated sewer discharges.
The current state of Halifax Harbour shows the significant effects of pollutants discharged to the harbour through untreated sanitary, storm and combined sewer outfalls. As a result:
Shellfish harvesting is prohibited in the harbour;
large areas of contaminated sediment exist around some forty separate outfalls;
water quality is poor along the shorelines;
bacterial contamination is widespread;
and aesthetics are poor along the Halifax/Dartmouth waterfronts due to particulates, floatables and odour.
All of these things have a detrimental affect on the reputation of our municipality and our region, and carry both economic as well as environmental impacts. Therefore, a small-scale, affordable solution has been developed, to be phased in over time, providing basic treatment for all untreated sewer discharges.
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