The city plans to launch a website in spring to keep residents in the loop when stormy deluges force sewage out of Hamilton's aging network of pipes.

But staying fully abreast of the foul mishaps could cost as much as $10 million.

That's the estimated cost of installing monitoring equipment at designated combined sewer overflow locations.

Only 13 of the city's 27 sites have proper instruments to keep track of when effluent spews into the environment.

"I think it would be wise if we reached out to the province and the feds and asked them to assist us," Coun. Brad Clark said at Monday's public works committee meeting.

During big rain storms or snow melts, the old dual-purpose pipes are swamped. Overflow locations act as escape valves to prevent basements from flooding.

The sewage problem comes during an era of more frequent storms with climate change taking hold.

Meanwhile, roughly one-third of the local network has combined stormwater and sanitary sewers, mostly in the older parts of the city.

About a decade ago, the cost of separating the pipes was estimated at $1.5 billion, said Nick Winters, the city's director of water and wastewater operations.

On Monday, the city launched an interim webpage to inform the public of sewage spills.

It's to be superceded by a more robust version in spring featuring a map that details the status of Hamilton's 27 overflow locations.

The webpage will also track "bypasses" at the Woodward Avenue wastewater plant, which is when partly treated effluent is dumped into the harbour because the volume is too much for the structure to handle safely.

In 2018, there were 17 bypasses, resulting in 1,868 megalitres (equal to about 750 Olympic-sized swimming pools) flowing into the harbour. So far this year, there have been 32 bypasses, with a volume of 2,755 megalitres (more than 1,100 pools).

The increase is partly the result of high lake levels with water flowing into the plant, but also the product of reduced plant capacity amid an ongoing $340-million plant upgrade, Winters said.

Once the construction is done, the plant will treat the sewage better, he said, calling the scenario a "bit of a double-edged sword."

How often combined sewer overflow locations are active varies, Winters said. Some close to the sewage plant see discharges every time there's a bypass while others "are rarely or never active."

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