The Capital Regional District is warning the public to avoid the water at Clover Point after raw sewage was dumped just offshore Thursday night.
Crews are testing the water for contamination and expect results today.
The sewage was discharged between 10:20 and 10:40 p.m. Thursday, through the Clover Point short outfall.
It occurred during a scheduled B.C. Hydro power outage, when the backup power generator failed to work.
The generator and automatic transfer switch operated normally during testing, but did not start automatically when power was shut down, CRD spokesman Andy Orr said.
CRD operators responded by manually starting the generator, which returned the pump station to full operations.
About 650 cubic metres of sewage was released in the course of 19 minutes.
Orr said it’s “very rare” for sewage to be dumped near the shoreline. “We sometimes have storm surge issues in the winter to do with the pipes, but this is actually a technical failure.”
Crews are sampling water at seven locations along the beach. Warning signs will mark the area until the water is deemed safe.
Given the short duration of the event, fecal coliform levels are not expected to exceed Environment Canada’s standard for safe swimming water, Orr said.
Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt said it’s an example of why the CRD needs to improve its wastewater treatment infrastructure.
“This underscores the inadequacy of our current wastewater system and the need for major upgrades,” Isitt said.
“I think it’s incumbent on residents in the capital region to demand sewage treatment at the earliest opportunity.”
Typically, sewage is pumped through the Clover Point outfall pipe, which is 1.2 kilometres long and 65 metres deep.
Before the outfall was completed in 1981, wastewater was discharged from the shoreline during low tide.
