July 21, 2010
Wednesday’s Water News: Officials in Shreveport Struggle to Clean up Champion Lake
After a 9 million gallons of sewage spilled into Champion Lake due to a burst wastewater line, officials in Shreveport, Louisiana, went straight to work two weeks ago to clean up the mess. However, cleanup is taking longer than expected and officials are struggling to get the lake’s bacteria levels back to a safe point.
Headlines
Heavy rains caused sewage overflows in La Joya, Texas. The mayor warned citizens that the wastewater system could not hold against the heavy rains to come, but many did not listen. Thousands of dollars in damage was done to homes and property after sewage seeped into houses following the rain.
The wastewater treatment plant in Centerville, Iowa had to be shut down after heavy rains pounded the town. Officials are worried that some of the water went untreated, and that there could be contaminated drinking water going into people’s homes.
In Los Angeles, at least part of a busy hospital in east Hollywood was temporarily without water today due to a water main break. Traffic was also affected by the break and affected the afternoon commute.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, the town of Joliet, Illinois will be building a new sewage line to ease pressure on their wastewater treatment plant. The plan costs an estimated $15 million dollars and is being paid for by low-interest loans provided by the stimulus package.
Sewer Rate News
Kiowa, Kansas
Newbern, Tennessee
Traver, California
San Ramon, California
Stayton, Oregon
