Pump action
The 45-kilometre (km) long shoreline of Hamilton Harbour on Canada’s Lake Ontario has been at the heart of its surrounding communities for many centuries.
Once a pristine source of fresh fish and a place of leisure for the local population, industrialisation and the growth of the city of Hamilton have had a detrimental effect on the life of the harbour.
By the middle of the 20th century, decades of toxic sediment, storm water run-off, habitat loss, water quality deterioration and other factors had caused severe damage to the Hamilton Harbour ecosystem.
In 1987, the International Joint Commission (IJC) – the organisation overseeing the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement – identified the 500 square km Hamilton Harbour as one of 43 areas of concern (AOC).
Being on a list of locations where environmental degradation seriously impaired the use and environmental health of the Great Lakes was a wake-up call for the city. Over the past few years, significant environmental engineering programmes have been implemented, the largest of which being the multiphase Clean Harbour programme.
Wastewater treatment project ...
Once a pristine source of fresh fish and a place of leisure for the local population, industrialisation and the growth of the city of Hamilton have had a detrimental effect on the life of the harbour.
By the middle of the 20th century, decades of toxic sediment, storm water run-off, habitat loss, water quality deterioration and other factors had caused severe damage to the Hamilton Harbour ecosystem.
In 1987, the International Joint Commission (IJC) – the organisation overseeing the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement – identified the 500 square km Hamilton Harbour as one of 43 areas of concern (AOC).
Being on a list of locations where environmental degradation seriously impaired the use and environmental health of the Great Lakes was a wake-up call for the city. Over the past few years, significant environmental engineering programmes have been implemented, the largest of which being the multiphase Clean Harbour programme.
Wastewater treatment project ...
