The City of Prince George is in the process of making changes to its sanitary bylaw to discourage people and businesses from flushing any unwanted material down the drain.
According to the city, crews respond to 500 service calls each year, costing residents over $420,000.
Environmental Assistant, Julia Shrimpton says an upgrade to the bylaw is long overdue.
“Our current bylaw is thirteen years old and we feel it’s time to update it with current knowledge for effective management of the system, it’s not just about blocked sewers, it’s about a whole number of things.”
“One of the things that we’re most excited about in this proposed new bylaw is enhancements to source control so that’s keeping harmful substances out of the sanitary sewer system in the first place.”
As a result, a sanitary sewer use bylaw is being proposed to replace it.
Shrimpton says the northern capital has almost 700 kilometres of sewer pipes routinely clog each year.
She adds the most-common culprits are usually grease, oil, and fats.
When it comes to grease, Shrimpton states that’s a costly expense as well.
“The annual cost of grease removal from hot spot areas, that totals around $175,000 per year, we’re concerned about those costs and I think we can manage those better.”
Shrimpton said they are in the beginning stages of the drafting process for the new bylaw, it likely won’t be available to the public until its delivered to Mayor and council in April.