It looks like poop. It certainly smells like poop.

But nobody knows for sure yet if what fell from the sky and splattered all over a Mississauga family’s back yard is really human waste.

Emma Gilfillan-Giannakos was sitting under her covered patio, while her children played in an outdoor fort, at about 5 p.m. Wednesday when she heard a loud splash.

“I had no idea what it was. I thought maybe a rainstorm, but it only lasted a second or two,” she said.

When Gilfillan-Giannakos looked up, she saw brown specks covering her pool tarp, as well as part of her concrete patio and garden. Small, hard pellets were floating in the pool where it was uncovered.

“I stuck a finger in the water and I smelled it,” she said, shuddering. “It was poop.”

The family lives about 20 kilometres from Pearson Airport. Airplanes can be seen flying overhead at all hours of the day.

Transport Canada is investigating, but has not determined the source of the material or whether it is in fact airplane lavatory waste, also known as “blue ice,” said spokesperson Maryse Durette.

Airplanes with washrooms have a sewage holding tank designed to be emptied at special facilities at airports. It’s possible for a valve to malfunction and for some of the tank’s contents to leak, said Durette.

“If this happens, the liquid seeping from valves freezes and adheres to the outside of the aircraft when the aircraft is flying at high altitudes,” she said.

“As the aircraft starts its descent and the atmosphere gets warmer, the ice will start to melt and pieces will detach themselves from the aircraft.”

If the substance is found to be “blue ice,” Transport Canada will try to identify the air carrier responsible and take enforcement action if they don’t fix the problem, she said.

But Gilfillan-Giannakos will likely be left with a bill for more than $5000, after draining her pool, replacing the liner and pressure-washing her patio. Her insurance company has said it will not pay.

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Poop protocols

Ever wonder what happens after you flush on the train or bus or on a cruise boat in Toronto harbour?

There are some urban myths that waste goes in the lake or on the train tracks. Not so.

“No ‘black water’ (human waste) is permitted to be dumped into the Great Lakes by commercial or pleasure craft,’’ says Pamela McDonald, director, communications and public affairs with Toronto Port Authority. “Waste goes into inboard tanks and is removed by having it pumped off into sewage tanks.’’

Waste dumping from any boats or vessels into Canadian waters is prohibited, she said.

Rebecca McGlynn, a spokespersonfor Ontario Northland, which operates buses and a train in the province, says all human waste is kept in containment until being emptied into municipal sewage systems.

— Valerie Hauch

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