A three-year study released on Monday by the Fondation Rivières on the water treatment systems of 130 municipalities in Quebec, or 15% of the 846 existing municipal sewage systems, finds that seven out of ten municipalities still contaminate Quebec's rivers.
The research targeted five major watersheds where nearly one and a half million Quebecers live: the Richelieu, Bécancour, Châteauguay, L'Assomption, and Missisquoi Bay rivers.
According to the report, in 2018, there were 53,645 wastewater discharges into Quebec's waterways and one-third of municipal wastewater systems exceeded their hydraulic treatment capacity.
The Rivers Foundation also found that 62 treatment plants diverted more than 21 million m3 of untreated wastewater into the environment, nearly three times what Montreal had discharged into the river in 2015.
The standards for the release of contaminants into the environment do not consider the environment’s capacity to tolerate pollution into account over time. Since 2014, all Quebec municipalities have been waiting for their “new standard”, a standard that will establish the maximum number of overflows that the various watersheds can tolerate and the treatment standards to be achieved.
The study also highlighted that municipalities were at fault or negligent when it comes to water sanitation and they have little to fear since the Quebec government issues very few sanctions.
The Rivières Foundation also showed that municipalities rarely have the expertise, resources, or support needed to select the solutions best suited to their needs and to meet the conditions that allow them to obtain grants. The Foundation believes that the Quebec government grants subsidies to municipalities without taking sanitation priorities into consideration.
