12.02.08
Tuesday Headlines: Water Main Break Causes Power Outage in Flint, Michigan
More than 1,500 customers in Genesee County, Michigan were still without power Monday afternoon after water main break in downtown Flint. The water main break also shut down a road and closed some businesses. Cold weather is being blamed for the break.
Headlines
In Kentucky, Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan took control of the city’s sewer system yesterday, dismissing the private contractor that had been running it since 1994. Approximately 10 more workers will be added to improve cleaning and maintenance of sewer lines and boost the system’s performance.
The Valdosta, Georgia area suffered two wastewater spills over the weekend resulting from heavy rainfall. Approximately 6.5 million gallons of untreated wastewater was released in the first incident, and a discharge of approximately 135,000 gallons of raw sewage was released in the second incident.
Because of a sewage spill, people are being encouraged to temporarily stay away from a ravine in Thousand Oaks, California. A root blockage in a sewer line led to the release of about 2,100 gallons of sewage from a manhole cover.
Tucson Water workers expect to fix a University of Arizona area water main break some time Tuesday. The break in in the 8-inch water main has disrupted traffic but should be repaired today.
Sewer Rate News
Birdsboro, Pennsylvania
Northport, Alabama
Westminster, Maryland
11.19.08
Wednesday Headlines: 60-inch Water Main Breaks in Central New Jersey
In New Jersey, a break in a 60-inch water main break in Middlesex and Somerset Counties is affecting 100,000 customers and has partially collapsed part of the road above the pipe. A boil-water advisory remains in effect for the nearly 20 Central Jersey towns affected, and customers will be contacted by phone when it is lifted, which is projected to be around noon Thursday. Although the cause of the break is unknown the water main was installed in 1958.
Sewer Rate News
Lansing, Michigan’s long-term endeavor to reduce the flow of raw sewage is 59 percent completed and already seeing significant results. Annually, some 1.65 billion gallons of sewage went into the rivers before the CSO work started. That has been reduced by 585 million gallons a year. The work is not slated to end until 2020.
Astoria, Oregon under a federal consent decree, has a 20-year program to prevent sewage from overflowing into the Columbia River and Youngs Bay during heavy rainstorms. The latest project is the first phase of a two-phase CSO project, which will install new pipes to carry stormwater into the bay and construct a giant storage tank for sewage.
Traffic was restricted on a major Mesa, Arizona roadway Tuesday evening after a 12-inch water main leak caused a sinkhole in the road.
Work crews in Kalamazoo, Michigan worked through the night to dig out a couple of water main breaks. There are water main breaks all the time in this city, which is an older system where fluctuating temperatures (a common occurence this time of year) makes the ground heave and pipes burst.
Sewer Rate News
McKinleyville, California
Ranson, West Virginia
Sugarcreek, Ohio
11.07.08
Friday Headlines: NYC Agrees to Bring Treatment Plants into Compliance
New York City has reached an agreement with the state of New York to bring its 14 wastewater treatment plants into compliance with environmental laws. The price tag to bring all the plants into compliance is expected to be in the billions. Steven W. Lawitts, the acting commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection commented on the situation stating:
The many components of this agreement highlight the challenges that cities around the country face in building costly and complex, but critically important, infrastructure
Headlines
Students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University were inconvenienced after a 6-inch water main on campus broke Thursday afternoon.
An equipment failure at a Long Island sewage treatment plant caused approximately 51,000 gallons to spill into a bay where shellfish beds were recently reopened.
About 90 homes in Baltimore County, Maryland were without water yesterday after a break in a 10-inch water main.
A main pipeline near Palatka, Florida’s water plant broke Wednesday night, leaving the city without water for several hours and a boil-order through at least today. “An aging infrastructure can cause these types of mishaps,” said City Manager Woody Boynton.
Sewer Rate News
Bath, Maine
Phoenix, Arizona
10.09.08
Thursday Headlines: Water Main Break Floods Shopping Mall
The lower floor of a major western Pennsylvania mall is closed while firefighters and other crews work to clean up after an 8-inch water main break flooded at least 30 stores. More than 80 firefighters are using squeegees and pumps to clear out the water at the Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Headlines
A Marin Municipal Water District main broke early Wednesday in Woodacre, California sending a geyser-like flow 50 feet into the air. Water shot in the air unabated for almost 30 minutes, as 4,500 gallons were lost through a hole in a 6-inch line.
There was a raging torrent of water on Wednesday morning in Honolulu after a 24-inch water main break . An area resident said, “looks like one big surf coming through — one big surf. Everything, garbage cans, everything came toward us.”
The new water pre-treatment plant in Waco, Texas will cost about 39 million dollars and pull the plug on the problem with the city’s tap water.
Sewer Rate News
Brockton, Massachusetts
Bullhead City, Arizona
Hollister, Missouri
Livermore Falls, Maine
I’m out of the office tomorrow, so check back on Monday for all new headlines.
10.08.08
Wednesday Headlines: Sewer Repairs to Cost Windsor, N.J. Millions
Sporadic sewer problems around West Windsor, New Jersey have prompted the township council to approve a bond ordinance for sewer improvements totaling $6,072,621 and the issuance of $3,510,000 in bonds to finance part of the cost. The township has been plagued by a series of sewer problems, many of them due to heavy rains.
Headlines
A state consent decree requiring Middletown, New York to build a new sewer treatment plant and correct sewage overflow problems was approved by the Common Council Tuesday evening.
The installation of a 24-inch water line in downtown Tempe, Arizona and adjacent to Arizona State University is expected to create delays and detours for pedestrians and motorists alike. This $4.8 million project is necessary in anticipation of new developments in the downtown area creating a greater demand for water. The project is expected to be completed by mid-December.
City Council members in Tama, Iowa decided on Monday to add on to the city’s water treatment plant. The city has about $400,000 saved for the project, but addressing the water problems will likely require a rate increase.
Some households in Jacksonville, Texas will see improvementsin their wastewater system in the near future as more than 4,000 feet of sewer lines will be replaced.
Sewer Rate News
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Marshall, Texas
09.26.08
Friday Headlines: Despite Improvements Port Huron Struggles with CSOs
Despite making significant improvements and spending $135 million since 1988 on separating its combined sewer system, Port Huron, Michigan still ranks in the top five in the state for volume of combined sewer overflows. Last year, Port Huron accounted for 2.3% of the 13.575 billion gallons of untreated storm water and sewage released in the state of Michigan.
Headlines
In Texas, Fort Hood officials have confirmed the cleanup of about 168,000 gallons of spilled sewage, which they believe did not contaminate bodies of water. Public works inspectors have determined a fracture in the main distribution pipe allowed the sewage to escape from the facility.
Neighborhoods in Houston, Texas are experiencing problems with sewage spills as the city’s Public Works Department tries to get all lift stations operating again. Every sewage lift pump was affected by Hurricane Ike in some way and even municipal utility districts suffered issues with the power outages at lift pump stations that control wastewater.
Long Beach, California made a slight improvement from last year but still had the worst water quality in the state “by far” because the Los Angeles River pours into the city’s waters, according to a new report released by Heal the Bay.
Lawyers for Alabama’s Jefferson County and bond insurers were set to battle on Friday over an emergency request to give control of the county’s heavily indebted sewer system to a court receiver. Jefferson County is negotiating with Wall Street creditors against a Tuesday deadline on restructuring $3.2 billion of troubled sewer-system debt.
Sewer Rate News
Anchorage, Alaska
Glendale, Arizona
09.25.08
Thursday Headlines: Pipe Break Leads to 25 Foot Sinkhole in West Chester, Penn.
A 12-foot-deep sinkhole opened up in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Wednesday after a broken stormwater main caused saturated soils to collapse. Workers with the borough’s Public Works Department called in a pipeline construction company to handle the emergency after the sinkhole expanded to 25 feet long by 12 feet across.
Headlines
In Maryland, Anne Arundel County health officials have ordered Bear Neck Creek in Edgewater closed and warn against direct contact with the water. The closure was ordered because of a wastewater overflow Wednesday in a nearby sewer collection system.
Michigan’s environmental chief warned the Detroit City Council on Wednesday that continued delays in approving a $600-million tunnel system to store sewage and storm runoff during heavy rain could cost ratepayers an extra $100 million in interest on construction bonds and put the city in violation of its water pollution permit.
Roughly 21,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Pinehurst Lake on Tuesday after a force main broke in Carthage, North Carolina.
Crews in Colorado Springs, Colorado are working to divert the water in Sand Creek away from a bank that has been badly eroded by recent storms, coming dangerously close to exposing a sewage pipe. Since 2000, Colorado Springs Utilities has spent $100 million dollars on their wastewater collection system.
Sewer Rate News
Camp Verde, Arizona
Colfax, California
Shafer, Minnesota
Sheffield, Alabama
09.16.08
Tuesday Headlines: Sinkhole Causes Traffic Delays on I-71 Outside Cincinnati
In suburban Cincinnati, a water main break on I-71 in Sycamore Township early this morning slowed traffic and is expected to cause problems throughout the day. Work crews say a water main at least 15 inches in diameter ruptured under I-71 creating a large sinkhole in one of the northbound lanes and buckling pavement in the high-speed southbound lane. (picture courtesy of WCPO-TV)
Headlines
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Johnson Utilities have agreed on how to disinfect the standing water in Queen Creek Wash after an overflow in May oozed sewage out of manholes.
A major sewer overflow in Peoria, Illinois over the weekend has highlighted that by December the city is supposed to have a proposed solution for reducing or eliminating the number of overflows into the Illinois River.
A water main break has temporarily left the Illinois communities of Glasgow and Alsey without running water. Officials hope to have the water main repaired and running water available again within a couple of days.
Sewer Rate News
Coal City, Illinois
Newburgh, Indiana
09.11.08
Thursday Headlines: San Diego Counties Fined $1 Million for Sewage Spill
Two San Diego County cities have been fined more than $1 million for last year’s 7.3 million-gallon sewage spill into Buena Vista Lagoon. Some 1,700 fish were killed when the 25-year-old sewer pipe ruptured. Vista will pay $981,000 because the city owns most of the pipe, Carlsbad will pay the rest.
Headlines
The Washington Post’s “Capital Weather Blog” notes that in many Washington, D.C. neighborhoods it takes only one tenth of an inch of rain to cause a combined sewer overflow. Ann Posegate notes, “a storm can be so exciting until you think of its human and environmental consequences.”
A Belvedere, California neighborhood was flooded Wednesday night when about 30,000 gallons of water escaped from a broken water main. One house was flooded and four garages sustained water damage.
A water main break in Boonton, New Jersey yesterday led authorities to issue a boil-water alert for residents west of the town’s railroad tracks.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, most of the downtown area was without air conditioning and functional plumbing after a water main burst at the bottom of the New River .
Sewer Rate News
Choteau, Montana
Marana, Arizona
New Summerfield, Texas
09.02.08
Tuesday Headlines: Water Main Break Floods Buildings at SUNY-Binghamton
The water main break responsible for flooding Science Buildings II and IV at SUNY-Binghamton, and temporarily cutting off water supply for students on campus Sunday night, was due to an old pipe, according to a university official.
Headlines
Violations associated with recent bypasses of the Broken Arrow, Oklohoma sanitary sewer system will cost the city $142,000 in penalties. The state’s consent order requires the city to upgrade its publicly owned treatment works to eliminate unpermitted discharges from the wastewater collection system.
In Oak Harbor, Ohio, the installation of the village’s new sewer system will mean months of traffic headaches. The combined storm overflow elimination project was mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency and it will cost about $3 million.
Traffic was backed up along Interstate 8 Tuesday morning after a water main break in Lakeside, California ruptured, causing significant flooding and a 12 foot sinkhole.
The John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan was closed all day yesterday after a six-inch water main burst Sunday night, leaving walkways flooded and the zoo without water.
Sewer Rate News
Carpentersville, Illinois
Mary Esther, Florida
Prescott Valley, Arizona
Rusk, Texas
