Does it pass the sniff test? Citizen ‘Pipe Watch’ program resurrected to track rogue sewer pollution

The pipe that dumps storm water into Felker's Creek is big enough for an adult to walk inside standing upright.

A metal grate stops incoming sewer trespassers and catches plastic trash, abandoned clothing and other debris on the way out.

But it's a lonely hanging condom that catches the eye of Lynda Lukasik and Juby Lee as they tested for E. coli bacteria Friday in the creek north of Mud Street on the Stoney Creek Mountain.

The Environment Hamilton duo said condoms and tampons found in a storm drain - not to mention a distinctive sanitary aroma" - are potential signs of what the city calls an illegal cross-connection." You might call it the result of a home reno amateur hooking up a new toilet to the wrong sewer pipe.

When that happens, someone is flushing their toilets right into the creek," said Lukasik, who heads the environmental group that first started testing for sewer pollution in Red Hill Creek 17 years ago.

Back then, testing by volunteers helped convince the province to issue an order for the city to seek out sources of pollution in the east-end creek. The last time Environment Hamilton did regular creek testing was 2013.

Now the bacteria-busting band is back together as Sewer Pipe Watch" - and they would love your help.

Environment Hamilton is using a local lab to test water samples from at least a dozen storm drain outfalls and sewer overflow pipes in the Red Hill watershed, which includes Davis and Felker's creeks.

But water tests are only half the battle, said Lee, who is co-ordinating Pipe Watch and asking potential volunteers to email her (jlee@enviromenthamilton.org).

There are visual cues to watch for, floatables. Basically all the things people flush down the toilet that they really shouldn't," she said. Anyone can help us with that."

And don't forget the good old sniff test. Lee and Lukasik collected a water sample Friday at a combined sewer outfall into Red Hill Creek near the Rosedale arena after noticing the classic smell of sanitary flow."

At that location, Lee used a broomstick attached to a dollar-store clamp to collect murky water about 10 feet below the sewer outfall. They needed hip-waders to reach the Felker's Creek storm drain hidden below a Stoney Creek subdivision.

No, volunteers don't have to slosh around in the muck, Lee said. If your daily dog-walking route takes you past a Pipe Watch storm drain, just recording what you see - or smell - can be helpful. For example, repeat sightings of storm drain condoms might spur followup tests, or a report to the city.

Lukasik said the group resurrected regular citizen testing in part because flushed floatables" are becoming more noticeable in Red Hill Creek. (The memory of a four-year sewage spill into Chedoke Creek is also fresh.)

She is hoping the tests show signs of improvement. For example, the addition of a sewage-catching superpipe" in the Red Hill Valley should have eliminated several past overflow culprits. And the city has spent years tracking cross-connection culprits in the east city.

But city workers can't be everywhere at once," so extra eyes on outfalls can be helpful - as long as everyone stays safe, said water director Andrew Grice, who cautioned some sewer outfalls are located in hard-to-reach locations.

There is still room for improvement, said Stoney Creek councillor Brad Clark. We still have to put up warnings signs at Felker's Falls cautioning people the water could be contaminated with fecal matter."

Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamilton-based reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com