Positive effects of sewage treatment on
bacteria levels in Halifax Harbour
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A Final Summary Report for the overall Halifax Harbour Water Quality Sampling Program 2004-2010 is available:
As a condition of approval for the Harbour Solutions Project under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, HRM undertook a water quality sampling program for Halifax Harbour. Between June 2004 and September 2006, weekly samples were collected for fecal coliform bacterial analysis, and bi-weekly samples for more extensive chemical analyses. Beginning October 2006, sampling was bi-weekly for both bacteria and chemistry, and monthly in 2010. Samples were collected at the surface and at 10-meter depths. Regular sampling locations are shown on the map below.
Click on the Map for a larger version
The program began in June of 2004, and was scheduled to run until at least 2009, at which point it was anticipated that all three of the new Harbour Solutions sewage treatment plants would be built and operating. There were some delays in commissioning the Herring Cove plant, and the Halifax plant was affected by a flood in January 2009, so the sampling program was suspended in June of 2009. It resumed as the Halifax and Herring Cove plants approached fully operational status, in May 2010. The purpose of the program was to assess whether the defined water quality objectives for the Harbour are met with sewage treatment in place. As of June 2010, all three plants were fully operational.
Detailed weekly or bi-weekly data and summary reports are available for the entire data set 2004-2010
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More information on the sampling program and results is contained in the quarterly reports, which describe the data for three-month intervals.
| Quarter # |
Dates Included |
File Size |
| Report Q1 |
June 23 - Sept. 14, 2004 |
PDF 0.4MB |
| Report Q2 |
Sept. 22 - Dec. 14, 2004 |
PDF 1.0MB |
| Report Q3 |
Dec. 21 - Mar. 15, 2005 |
PDF 2.7MB |
| Report Q4 |
Mar. 22 - June 14, 2005 |
PDF 2.6MB |
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> Q4 includes Year 1 Summary |
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| Report Q5 |
June 21 - Sept. 14, 2005 |
PDF 2.3MB |
| Report Q6 |
Sept. 20 - Dec. 13, 2005 |
PDF 3.7MB |
| Report Q7 |
Dec. 20, 2005 - Mar. 14, 2006 |
PDF 2.1MB |
| Report Q8 |
Mar. 21, 2006 - June 13, 2006 |
PDF 5.6MB |
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> Q8 includes Year 2 Summary |
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| Report Q9 |
June 21, 2006 - Sept. 13, 2006 |
PDF 2.3MB |
| Report Q10 |
Sept. 26, 2006 - Dec. 5, 2006 |
PDF 2.4MB |
| Report Q11 |
Dec. 20, 2006 - March 13, 2007 |
PDF 2.0MB |
| Report Q12 |
March 28 - June 19, 2007 |
PDF 8.7MB |
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> Q12 includes Year 3 Summary |
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| Report Q13 |
July 4 - Sept. 12, 2007 |
PDF 3.6MB |
| Report Q14 |
Sept. 25 - Dec. 17, 2007 |
PDF 2.9MB |
| Report Q15 |
Jan. 3 - March 11, 2008 |
PDF 2.4MB |
| Report Q16 |
April - June, 2008 |
PDF 11MB |
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> Q16 includes Year 4 Summary |
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| Report Q17 |
July 2 - Sept. 9, 2008 |
PDF 2.2MB |
| Report Q18 |
Sept. 23 - Dec. 17, 2008 |
PDF 2.1MB |
| Report Q19 |
Dec. 29, 2008 - March 11, 2009 |
PDF 2.4MB |
| Report Q20 |
March 25 - June 15, 2009 |
PDF 8.5MB |
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> Q20 includes Year 5 Summary |
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Additional sampling was done in 2010
following recovery of the Halifax plant.
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| Final Summary Report |
2004-2010 |
PDF 3.3MB |
| > Final Summary includes 2010 data |
Sediment chemistry data is also available for beach locations (PDF, 86KB).
Dr. Bill Li of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography has developed a presentation of the data, showing the trends in fecal coliform bacteria in Halifax Harbour from 2004-2009. His document (PDF format) is available at the following link:
http://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/ocean/BedfordBasin/HHWQMP/FecalColiforms.pdf
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