Celebrate ‘World Toilet Day’ with a Niagara wastewater treatment plant tour

If you have ever wondered what happens to waste when you flush the toilet now is the time to find out by taking a Niagara wastewater treatment plant tour in recognition of World Toilet Day.

World Toilet Day is officially observed by the United Nations (UN) and takes place annually on Nov. 19.

The unique day was created with the goal of raising awareness about sanitization and making access to sanitation a global priority.

It’s also about breaking taboos around the smelly subject.

To celebrate World Toilet Day, Niagara Region is offering two free guided tours on Nov. 19 at its Port Dalhousie wastewater treatment plant on Lighthouse Road in St. Catharines.

According to Niagara Region the area has 11 wastewater treatment facilities that process 187.5 million litres of sewage per day to “protect the Great Lakes from pollution and practice responsible environmental stewardship.”

On the tours, operators will walk participants through the plant to explore the various phases of wastewater treatment.

Tour times are 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and registration is required. Participants must be 12 years of age or older and should be able to walk up and down stairs.

For those who can’t make it or have mobility challenges a virtual tour of the Baker Road (Grimsby) Wastewater Treatment Plant is also available.

Email amanda.deschenes@niagararegion.ca by Nov. 15 to register for the guided tour. Spaces are limited.

‘Safe toilets for all by 2030’ is one of the targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, which is to “ensure access to water and sanitation for all”, but the world is seriously off track.

Globally, 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation and 2 billion people lack basic hygiene services, including 653 million with no facility at all.

World Toilet Day was made an official United Nations Observance in 2013. It was started in 2001 by the World Toilet Organization, a Singapore-based NGO.

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