volume 1 - Halifax Regional Municipality

Halifax Water Integrated Resource Plan
Executive Summary
NSE, while mindful of the fiscal impacts of regulatory programs, is nonetheless
mandated to enforce provincial and federal legal requirements and hence the direction
to Halifax Water from the two provincial bodies can at times be a challenge to reconcile.
ES 4.
HALIFAX INFRASTRUCTURE
Halifax Water owns and operates a total of nine water supply plants (WSP). Three are
considered large facilities – J.D. Kline WSP, Lake Major WSP, and Bennery Lake WSP
serving the core area of HRM and the Airport and Aerotech Business Park. Six small
water supply plants service the rural/suburban area of HRM.
Halifax Water also owns and operates 15 wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) that
provide varying levels of treatment, from primary to tertiary. Five are considered large
facilities and serve the core area - the three Halifax Harbour Solutions Plants: Halifax,
Dartmouth, and Herring Cove, plus Mill Cove and Eastern Passage. Eleven smaller
facilities provide wastewater treatment service to suburban and outlying areas. NSE
regulates the quality and quantity of effluent discharged from each WWTF.
Six of the WWTFs presently discharge to salt water receiving environments while the
remainder discharge to small freshwater lakes or streams. The freshwater bodies place
significant restrictions on assimilative capacity and hence limit the ability for continued
population growth and WWTF expansion.
Based on data collected by Halifax Water there are presently a total of 216 potential
overflow locations including 29 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) within the
wastewater system. It is believed that about half (105) of the overflow locations are
ever active and a much smaller sub-set is active with any significant frequency.
Prior to 2007, stormwater management was entirely the responsibility of HRM. On
August 1, 2007 Halifax Water's mandate was expanded with the transfer of certain
wastewater and stormwater assets from HRM. Management of stormwater in the
Greater Halifax area is a multi-jurisdictional undertaking. Ownership, operations, and
maintenance of the stormwater management infrastructure within the public right-ofway
including stormwater easements (pipes, culverts, and retention facilities) is the
responsibility of Halifax Water. Stormwater runoff is managed by a combination of
piped systems (some deep, some shallow), overland flow and ditches, discharging to
area watercourses.
Figure ES-1 shows the major water and wastewater systems for the urban Halifax area.
Revision: 2012-10-29 Integrated Resource Plan – Executive Summary ES-3
October 31 2012 Page 5 of 272