Stop Dumping Raw Sewage into the Rideau River at Brantwood Park
The Issue
This petition is a call out to everyone who loves and values our Rideau River and believes the City's unnecessary dumping of raw sewage must stop.
VERY ESSENTIAL FACTS: 1) The City of Ottawa dumps raw sewage into the Rideau River at a CSO pipe in Brantwood Park.
2)• There is currently no intention to stop this practice.
• An investment of less than $5 million ($3.5 million in Ontario grants and $1.5 million from the City of Ottawa) could eliminate this CSO point.
SECONDARY ESSENTIAL FACTS
• $251 million has been spent on the Ottawa River Action Plan (ORAP).
• Zero dollars have been spent to eliminate or even reduce sewage discharges at this CSO point on the Rideau River.
• The City has gone all-in on reducing CSOs into the Ottawa River while continuing to ignore the ongoing contamination of the Rideau River.
• It is long past time to change the "Rideau River Inaction Plan" (RRIP) to the
RRAP: the Rideau River Action Plan.
Our Respectful demands;
Given that City data since 2015 confirms volumes of sewage discharges in extreme excess of predicted single-event and annual discharge volumes at Clegg Street into the otherwise clean Rideau River, That the City;
1) Immediately reassess the Clegg Street CSO and identify an engineered solution capable of effectively eliminating CSOs from the Clegg Street outfall, or commission an independent engineering study to undertake this assessment.
2) Make public the complete findings and recommendations of that study and the cost to implement the identified solution(s).
3) Fund and implement the solution
Following completion of the reassessment and public release of its findings, the City must immediately allocate the necessary funds to implement the selected solution and establish a firm schedule for completion by 2030.
We don't need your money....we need you to;
Please SIGN and very importantly SHARE this petition...on Facebook, X, Reddit by email to friends.... to help create the political will needed to finally get a Rideau River Action Plan underway to STOP THE SEWAGE.
Further Information if you would like to know more. Photos credit; Jamie Brougham...all photos taken on the urban Rideau River.
This summer we were shocked and saddened to learn that the Rideau River at Brantwood Park is a dumping point for raw sewage, mixed with stormwater, during heavy rain events.
Over one million litres of contaminated wastewater have been released into the river so far this year. In 2023, over 1.5 million litres were dumped.
At present, the City has no intention to eliminate or even reduce this dumping of sewage.
The 2015 Clegg Street Dual Drainage and CSO Study predicted:
• Total CSO volume: approximately 183 m³ per year
• Largest individual predicted CSO event: approximately 78 m³
— Predictions vs. Reality
The August 10, 2023 Clegg CSO of 1,070 m³ represented 5.85 years of the predicted total annual CSO volume in one single event.
The June 6, 2026 Clegg CSO discharged 320.00 m³ — 310% greater than the predicted maximum single-event volume. This single event represented 1.75 years of the predicted total annual CSO volume.
On Canada Day, July 1, 2026 Clegg CSO discharged 675.07 m³ — 765% greater than the predicted maximum single-event volume, or 8.65 times the predicted maximum event. This single event represented 3.69 years of the predicted total annual CSO volume in one event.
2026 TOTAL
In the three recorded Clegg CSO events in 2026, the City discharged a total of 1,063.70 m³ of combined sewage into the Rideau River. This represents 5.81 years of the total annual CSO volume predicted by the 2015 Clegg study.
2024–2026 TOTAL
Across the six recorded Clegg CSO events from June 2024 through July 2026, a total of 1,842.00 m³ was discharged into the Rideau River.
This is equivalent to 10.07 years of the predicted total annual CSO effluent volume in just two years.
In spite of individual CSO event volumes far in excess of the predicted maximum volume, and annual total CSO volumes that have exceeded eight years of predicted annual effluent discharge in a single year, the City has taken no action to address this problem, and no study is even planned to reassess solutions to eliminate or even reduce these discharges into the Rideau.
Our Rideau
From a river so badly contaminated by urban sewage, agricultural and industrial runoff in the 1970s that it was closed to the public, the urban Rideau River has undergone a true ecological renaissance.
The river that the City of Ottawa is using to dump sewage from CSOs today is not the filthy, deserted river it was fifty years ago.
In summer 2025, we were elated to have testing confirming what we had been witnessing for decades: a clean river teeming with an abundance of wildlife.
Along its shores we are amazed to see snapping and painted turtles, Canada geese, mallards, mergansers, wood ducks and nine other waterfowl species plus green herons, great blue herons, night herons, great egrets and sandpipers. Beavers, muskrats and even otters live here. There are also eight species of frogs. Bass, muskie, walleye, pike and more than a dozen fish species thrive.
What's more, this ecological rebirth is matched by an explosion in community engagement with the river. Volunteers protect turtle nests. Community groups clean the shoreline of garbage, both from above and from the water, while others remove invasive species.
Enjoyment of the river has also exploded. Nature lovers hike the shores and enjoy the natural beauty from the many vantage points. Hundreds of local residents have bought canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards to be on the water, while others rent them from the shop in Brantwood Park. The river is a lively place for paddling from spring to fall. It is once again a popular place for people seeking to swim, cool off or exercise. Families enjoy water lounging on inflatables and water play at local parks.
And into our wonderful, healthy river the city continues to unecessarity dump raw sewage. Every discharge of untreated household and commercial sewage introduces plastics, pathogens, nutrients, pharmaceuticals and other contaminants shocking an otherwise healthy ecosystem.
The solution most commonly used to eliminate CSOs is offline storage: a holding tank to store excess effluent until after the rain event, when it can be pumped back into the system to be processed rather than dumped into the river.
A tank with a capacity of 1200 m3 to 1500 m3 would have prevented all recorded Clegg CSOs since 2022, based on the available discharge data.
The Cost to Ottawa Taxpayers
Based on the cost of similar CSO reduction tanks and associated infrastructure constructed elsewhere in Southern Ontario, the cost could be in the range of $3 million to $5 million.
The province has the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program — Health and Safety Water Stream, which explicitly lists wastewater storage as eligible infrastructure. The province's standard contribution is up to 73% of eligible project costs, subject to program requirements.
The cost to Ottawa taxpayers could therefore be as low as $1 million to $1.5 million.
461
The Issue
This petition is a call out to everyone who loves and values our Rideau River and believes the City's unnecessary dumping of raw sewage must stop.
VERY ESSENTIAL FACTS: 1) The City of Ottawa dumps raw sewage into the Rideau River at a CSO pipe in Brantwood Park.
2)• There is currently no intention to stop this practice.
• An investment of less than $5 million ($3.5 million in Ontario grants and $1.5 million from the City of Ottawa) could eliminate this CSO point.
SECONDARY ESSENTIAL FACTS
• $251 million has been spent on the Ottawa River Action Plan (ORAP).
• Zero dollars have been spent to eliminate or even reduce sewage discharges at this CSO point on the Rideau River.
• The City has gone all-in on reducing CSOs into the Ottawa River while continuing to ignore the ongoing contamination of the Rideau River.
• It is long past time to change the "Rideau River Inaction Plan" (RRIP) to the
RRAP: the Rideau River Action Plan.
Our Respectful demands;
Given that City data since 2015 confirms volumes of sewage discharges in extreme excess of predicted single-event and annual discharge volumes at Clegg Street into the otherwise clean Rideau River, That the City;
1) Immediately reassess the Clegg Street CSO and identify an engineered solution capable of effectively eliminating CSOs from the Clegg Street outfall, or commission an independent engineering study to undertake this assessment.
2) Make public the complete findings and recommendations of that study and the cost to implement the identified solution(s).
3) Fund and implement the solution
Following completion of the reassessment and public release of its findings, the City must immediately allocate the necessary funds to implement the selected solution and establish a firm schedule for completion by 2030.
We don't need your money....we need you to;
Please SIGN and very importantly SHARE this petition...on Facebook, X, Reddit by email to friends.... to help create the political will needed to finally get a Rideau River Action Plan underway to STOP THE SEWAGE.
Further Information if you would like to know more. Photos credit; Jamie Brougham...all photos taken on the urban Rideau River.
This summer we were shocked and saddened to learn that the Rideau River at Brantwood Park is a dumping point for raw sewage, mixed with stormwater, during heavy rain events.
Over one million litres of contaminated wastewater have been released into the river so far this year. In 2023, over 1.5 million litres were dumped.
At present, the City has no intention to eliminate or even reduce this dumping of sewage.
The 2015 Clegg Street Dual Drainage and CSO Study predicted:
• Total CSO volume: approximately 183 m³ per year
• Largest individual predicted CSO event: approximately 78 m³
— Predictions vs. Reality
The August 10, 2023 Clegg CSO of 1,070 m³ represented 5.85 years of the predicted total annual CSO volume in one single event.
The June 6, 2026 Clegg CSO discharged 320.00 m³ — 310% greater than the predicted maximum single-event volume. This single event represented 1.75 years of the predicted total annual CSO volume.
On Canada Day, July 1, 2026 Clegg CSO discharged 675.07 m³ — 765% greater than the predicted maximum single-event volume, or 8.65 times the predicted maximum event. This single event represented 3.69 years of the predicted total annual CSO volume in one event.
2026 TOTAL
In the three recorded Clegg CSO events in 2026, the City discharged a total of 1,063.70 m³ of combined sewage into the Rideau River. This represents 5.81 years of the total annual CSO volume predicted by the 2015 Clegg study.
2024–2026 TOTAL
Across the six recorded Clegg CSO events from June 2024 through July 2026, a total of 1,842.00 m³ was discharged into the Rideau River.
This is equivalent to 10.07 years of the predicted total annual CSO effluent volume in just two years.
In spite of individual CSO event volumes far in excess of the predicted maximum volume, and annual total CSO volumes that have exceeded eight years of predicted annual effluent discharge in a single year, the City has taken no action to address this problem, and no study is even planned to reassess solutions to eliminate or even reduce these discharges into the Rideau.
Our Rideau
From a river so badly contaminated by urban sewage, agricultural and industrial runoff in the 1970s that it was closed to the public, the urban Rideau River has undergone a true ecological renaissance.
The river that the City of Ottawa is using to dump sewage from CSOs today is not the filthy, deserted river it was fifty years ago.
In summer 2025, we were elated to have testing confirming what we had been witnessing for decades: a clean river teeming with an abundance of wildlife.
Along its shores we are amazed to see snapping and painted turtles, Canada geese, mallards, mergansers, wood ducks and nine other waterfowl species plus green herons, great blue herons, night herons, great egrets and sandpipers. Beavers, muskrats and even otters live here. There are also eight species of frogs. Bass, muskie, walleye, pike and more than a dozen fish species thrive.
What's more, this ecological rebirth is matched by an explosion in community engagement with the river. Volunteers protect turtle nests. Community groups clean the shoreline of garbage, both from above and from the water, while others remove invasive species.
Enjoyment of the river has also exploded. Nature lovers hike the shores and enjoy the natural beauty from the many vantage points. Hundreds of local residents have bought canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards to be on the water, while others rent them from the shop in Brantwood Park. The river is a lively place for paddling from spring to fall. It is once again a popular place for people seeking to swim, cool off or exercise. Families enjoy water lounging on inflatables and water play at local parks.
And into our wonderful, healthy river the city continues to unecessarity dump raw sewage. Every discharge of untreated household and commercial sewage introduces plastics, pathogens, nutrients, pharmaceuticals and other contaminants shocking an otherwise healthy ecosystem.
The solution most commonly used to eliminate CSOs is offline storage: a holding tank to store excess effluent until after the rain event, when it can be pumped back into the system to be processed rather than dumped into the river.
A tank with a capacity of 1200 m3 to 1500 m3 would have prevented all recorded Clegg CSOs since 2022, based on the available discharge data.
The Cost to Ottawa Taxpayers
Based on the cost of similar CSO reduction tanks and associated infrastructure constructed elsewhere in Southern Ontario, the cost could be in the range of $3 million to $5 million.
The province has the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program — Health and Safety Water Stream, which explicitly lists wastewater storage as eligible infrastructure. The province's standard contribution is up to 73% of eligible project costs, subject to program requirements.
The cost to Ottawa taxpayers could therefore be as low as $1 million to $1.5 million.
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Petition created on October 1, 2026