An invisible Crisis

A translation by Judith Turcotte

Last fall, the Fondation Rivières published its 2022 list of untreated wastewater discharges in the lakes and rivers of Québec. During the year, there were more than 57,263 discharges. For those who read my blogs, you know that these discharges disgust me especially since our lakes and rivers represent our main source of fresh water. Among the ten large cities that dominate the list, Longueuil is at the top followed by Trois-Rivières (3), Laval (4), Québec (6) and Montréal (7). At certain times, they all discharge the wastewater into the St. Lawrence River. This situation can only get worse as we are faced with climate change that is likely to send us torrential rains that our infrastructures are not capable of absorbing.

We are not the only ones. Eighty percent of the world’s wastewater is discharged without having been treated. The World Bank worries about the elevated water pollution in the world. It has baptized this situation as an “invisible crisis.” Both rich as well as poor countries experience high levels of pollution; however, there is an important difference. In the rich countries (like Canada), the pollutants found in the water are much more diverse. In the United States, hundreds of new chemicals are discharged into the water every year. I have difficulty in believing that the treatment plants have the capacity to eliminate all these pollutants.

Nitrogen is a good example of a chemical product which is not treated by municipal plants. Nitrogen, which is used in agricultural fertilizers everywhere in the world, transforms into nitrates. A third of the nitrogen found in the lakes and rivers comes from municipal treatment plants. The nitrates are responsible for a breakdown of oxygen in the water with consequences on aquatic life. Another example of discharges not treated from these treatment plants are microplastics.

These microplastics are now found in natural springs, in tap water and in bottled water. These tiny bits of plastic are microscopic and are often used in pharmaceutical products and cosmetics. Others come from larger plastic objects that are fragmented and degraded into the environment. One needs only to think of packaging products, plastic bags and cigarette butts. I have found articles on the effects of these microplastics on the aquatic animals but very little on the impact on humans. Nevertheless, we can find these tiny bits of plastic in our tap water.

Municipalities discharge, on occasion, untreated water directly into the river. This water contains concentrations of important pharmaceutical and chemical products. For example, Statistics Canada analyzes samples of this untreated water to measure the consumption of cannabis. In another study, it was shown that ibuprofen was found in 28% of the samples. As surprising as it may sound, the National Public Health Institute analyzed the municipal wastewater to follow the evolution of COVID-19.

The analytical capacity of the scientists is impressive and all these analyses are performed on the wastewater before it goes through a sewage treatment plant. However, we must remember that in 2022, there were more than fifty-seven thousand discharges of untreated wastewater directly into the river. Even more surprising, there are 81 municipalities without a treatment plant. The population sees nothing, the population knows nothing and the government authorities do not talk about it.

An invisible crisis.