Costly new drainage requirements for splash pads in Ottawa have nothing to do with the provincial environmental restrictions, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
In Coun. Allan Hubley’s search to find out why there are new drainage requirements in Ottawa, the Kanata South councillor said he was first told a provincial environmental requirement mandated the change.
Hubley has yet to get a formal answer to his inquiry submitted to staff at environment committee in February, which asks whether alternatives have been looked at, instead of sending water into sanitary sewers when splash pads are in use and storm sewers when they’re not. Before, runoff from splash pads always went into storm sewers, and the single system amounted to cheaper construction.
“This new requirement has taken the cost of these popular park amenities from $100,000 to over $400,000 and is denying communities a fun, safe means of outdoor activity for children,” states Hubley’s inquiry, which also asks why water used by street-cleaning vehicles can enter storm sewers but splash pad water can’t.
Rules around splash pad drainage aren’t set by the Ministry of Environment, said spokesperson Lindsay Davidson. “The rules governing the operation of sanitary and sewer systems are the responsibility of municipalities,” Davidson said in an email.
A city spokeswoman said staff wouldn’t respond to questions from the Citizen until they have responded to Hubley’s inquiry, which is being worked on. Hubley said he asked MPP Carleton-Mississippi Mills Jack MacLaren about provincial rules, only to hear splash pads seem to be covered by municipal bylaws.
Since then, Hubley said he’s heard informally that the splash pad drainage issue has more to do with regulating how fast water ends up in treatment systems and ultimately the river. He said there are cheaper filtering options out there.
“It’s not because the water is dirty, because it’s the same water you and I drink,” said Hubley, who has delayed the construction of a park in his ward because of the new splash pad costs. “Because it’s splashing kids and whatever, they then wanted to move it to the sanitary, which is where our toilets are going. But it’s a much more expensive system.”
