Pump failure leads to sewage spill

About 730,000 litres of untreated sewage spilled into the Red River Saturday, due to a pump failure.

The spill took place over about 33 minutes that morning at the Mager Drive wastewater pumping station, a city report notes.

A maintenance crew reset the station’s electrical system, which restored normal operations.

“We are now investigating to find the cause of the failure and identify and implement corrective measures,” the report states.

The spill took place within a combined sewer district, where precipitation and wastewater are collected in a single pipe.

At the time of the pump failure, wet weather was already causing a separate sewage overflow of the combined sewer.

The estimated volume of sewage discharged does not include sewage released due to the weather event.