Not many homes in Halifax have a secret staircase that tunnels down four stories to a huge concrete cave.
But entering the modest brown house on Duffus Street, it’s clear that this is no ordinary home.
The building is owned by Halifax Water and is used to conceal the entrance to a tunnel that descends into a pumping station hidden beneath Barrington Street.
“It’s designed to fit into the neighborhood so it’s not as obtrusive or unsightly,” said Jake Fulton, a spokesman for Halifax Water.
The entrance to the Duffus Street pumping station is located in a house owned by Halifax Water, designed to make the facility more visually pleasing to the neighborhood. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
In this underground space, three Halifax water pumps have failed in the past two months. This has led to warnings about swimming in the harbor and requests for residents to limit how often they flush their toilets.
Sewer lift
The underground pumping station uses powerful and complex equipment to perform a simple task: lift the sewage higher.
Everything flushed down toilets, emptied from bathtubs or drained from washing machines flows down pipes to treatment facilities. But along the way, those gravity-driven pipes end up below the level of the target facility, Fulton said.
That is why there are pumping stations in the city.
The Duffus Street facility – and dozens of others like it – collect waste water in a giant basin. Water flows from Larry Uteck, Clayton Park, Fairview and the northern half of the peninsula into the Duffus Street Pumping Station.
Jake Fulton, spokesman for Halifax Water, stands at the pump station on Duffus Street. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
“Here, a pump raises it to another point in the system so it can then flow by gravity to the wastewater treatment facility,” Fulton said.
“A Series of Unfortunate Events”
Typically, the facility has two pumps installed to move the sewage along three huge pipes. Two pumps — in case one fails.
One did at the end of June, leaving only the backup sewage transfer pump. On July 19, the backup also failed.
Pipes are used to carry wastewater from the basin below to a higher point where it flows down to the Upper Water Street treatment plant. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
“We worked as fast as we could to find an alternate pump,” Fulton said. “On July 22, the system was restored and operating with a backup pump.
“Then this replacement also failed.”
This meant that untreated but filtered sewage flowed into Halifax Harbour.
“It’s been a series of unfortunate events with the pumps here at the Duffus Street pump station,” Fulton said.
Sewage Screening
With the pump failures, the sewage and rainwater collecting in the pump station had nowhere to go.
The only option was to send it to the port.
“So when the wastewater leaves the facility here, it goes through a screening process that removes all the solid waste, but any bacteria still goes into the harbor,” Fulton said.
Wastewater from homes and stormwater runoff from the streets collects in a basin at the Duffus Street Pumping Station. It is normally pumped through the standpipes, but after recent pump failures, it is instead screened before it flows into the port. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
This could pose a health risk, which is why Halifax Water is warning residents against using the port.
“We advise against anyone using the harbor for recreational purposes and avoid contact with the harbor if possible,” Fulton said.
He also reminded residents whose sewage flows through Duffus Street to try to limit the number of times they flush their toilets.
To reduce the potential impact on the environment during this repair, Halifax Water is asking customers in the areas shown on the attached map to reduce the amount of water they flush and pour down their drains. To learn more, visit pic.twitter.com/S26Q7BdpLg
—@HalifaxWater
The solution is on the way
As of Tuesday evening, a crew was working to prepare another 300-horsepower industrial pump to be installed at the Duffus Street site.
The main problem with moving, installing and transporting these pumps? Their size.
“We have to move the pump about 20 meters over here,” Fulton said, pointing to a pit extending from the surface to the upper main floor of the sewage basin.
One of the heavy winches used to maneuver huge water pumps through the facility and down into the sewage basin below. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
Even after the pump arrives, installing it is a process. Measuring about two meters tall, it “will barely fit across the hallway,” Fulton said.
“It’s certainly not an easy job, but we’re working on it,” he said. “All involved are doing everything in their power to bring the system back to normal.
More repairs on Wednesday
So-called flushable wipes cannot be flushed and belong in the trash, Halifax water said. The service was working to unclog a pump Wednesday that was filled with rags and tissues. (Halifax Water)
Emergency repairs were completed on Tuesday evening, but the system was again quickly cluttered “and clogged with rags and tissues”. In a news release Wednesday, Halifax Water said crews were working to unclog the pump.
Authorities renewed calls for residents to be careful what they flush down the toilet and said they would now work to develop a plan to deal with this latest pump failure.
We continue to ask customers in the affected areas to reduce the amount of water they flush and pour down their drains. This will help minimize the amount of wastewater released into the environment. To learn more, visit pic.twitter.com/EERXSS3ZE7
—@HalifaxWater
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