06.17.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Water Main Break Washes Out Road in Monitor Township (Mich.)
A major road in Monitor Township, Michigan will remain closed until some time tomorrow after a break in a 36-inch water main washed out part of the road. It is likely that the age of the main–installed in the 1940’s–was partially responsible for the break.
Headlines
It took Spartanburg (S.C.) Water crews more than 10 hours Monday and Tuesday to clean up more than 94,000 gallons of raw sewage from a small creek.
The city of Essexville, Michigan has reported a combined sewer overflow from its wastewater treatment plant into the Saginaw River.
Stimulus Spotlight
Money from the economic stimulus package continues to reach down to southwest Colorado for infrastructure projects. The latest project to receive funding is in the town of Norwood. where they have been awarded a $540,000 grant to fix its water system.
Sewer tunnels in Cobb and Gwinnett counties are among $91.5 million in water and sewer projects statewide that the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority approved at its board meeting Tuesday. Of the 11 projects, five are at least partially backed by $40.5 million in federal stimulus money
Sewer Rate News
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Vero Beach, Florida
Waterford Township, Michigan
Williamstown, West Virginia
06.11.09
Thursday’s Water News: Tunnel Project to Capture Half of Indy’s Overflows
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has announced that federal officials approved a change to city sewer improvement plans that will more quickly capture billions of gallons of sewage now overflowing into the White River. A $257 million Deep Rock Tunnel Connector project will replace earlier plans to connect the city’s two wastewater treatment plants and will capture more than half of the city’s overflows.
Headlines
Heavy rain caused two sewage spills in Alamance County (N.C.) last week. The city of Graham reported a spill on Friday of approximately 9,000 gallons, while the town of Swepsonville also a reported a spill of 4,800 gallons.
The Richmond, Indiana Sanitary District expects to replace part of its aging sanitary sewer line for almost $1 million less than the original estimate.
Stimulus Spotlight
Several Southern Colorado water projects have a good shot at receiving federal stimulus money due to the recent ranking by state water quality regulators.
Water districts in the Kansas counties of Osage and Pottawatomie will receive a total of $5.4 million in federal stimulus funds to install and replace water lines and build new water storage tanks.
Sewer Rate News
Bandon, Oregon
Rochester, New Hampshire
San Luis Obispo, California
Willards, Maryland
06.03.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Main Break Shoots Water Sky High in Colorado Springs
A water main break this morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado shot water about 100 feet high just before 3:30 a.m. this morning. The force of the water tore a large hole in the street, and scattered rock and gravel in the area.
Headlines
A water main break in Towson, Maryland which flooded much of the area and is still a traffic nuisance. The water caused the road of a major street to buckle and caused Baltimore County Police to close part of the southbound lanes in the area of the break.
Part of a Hilton Head, South Carolina waterway has been closed to swimmers after a blocked sewer line sent nearly 200,000 gallons of sewage gushing out of a manhole and into Battery Creek.
Stimulus Spotlight
Maryland has been awarded nearly $122 million Tuesday from the EPA to fund drinking water projects and improve water quality as part of the federal government’s latest round of stimulus spending.
Today the EPA announced it will give the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority $54.8 million in stimulus funds to help local governments finance improvements to water infrastructure.
Sewer Rate News
Johnson County, Kansas
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Prescott Valley, Arizona
Silverton, Oregon
04.17.09
Friday Headlines: NYT Documents Deteriorationg Water Infrastructure
The New York Times has a story today on how it is becoming more difficult for municipalities across the country to ignore their aging water infrastructure as the pipes break at an increasing frequency. Here is the most relevant from the quote the story.
The new federal stimulus law provides $6 billion for water projects, with $2 billion of that directed to drinking water systems. But that money is only, well, a drop in the bucket: a report released last month by the E.P.A. estimated that the nation’s drinking water systems require an investment of $334.8 billion over the next two decades, with most of the money needed to improve transmission and distribution systems.
Headlines
$56.5 million in federal stimulus money from the Bureau of Reclamation will be used to build the second phase of the Lewis & Clark water treatment plant near Vermillion, South Dakota.
The state of Michigan is receiving $236 million under the economic stimulus plan to upgrade municipal water and sewer systems as part of a long-range effort to restore the Great Lakes.
A break in an old water main on South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, Florida is causing traffic detours this afternoon as crews complete repairs.
About one million gallons of water burst through the a broken water main drowning out an estimated $50,000 of lunch business across Estero Island in Southwest Florida.
Sewer Rate News
Alamosa, Colorado
Clarksdale, Arizona
Salisbury, Maryland
Sedona, Arizona
04.15.09
Wednesday Headlines: Niagra Falls Residents Angry with City After Break
A water main break that occured several weeks ago in Niagra Falls, New York left behind 12 million gallons of water, thousands of dollars in damage to some homes, and now homeowners are calling on the city to pay up.
Headlines
Needed upgrades and expansions to parts of the Poplarville, Mississippi’s water system may be coming out of the federal stimulus package. If approved, the city would receive have 25 percent of the cost of the project paid for, leaving approximately $827,488 the city would have to finance and repay in 20 years.
A buildup of grease caused a manhole to overflow with up to 6,000 gallons of untreated wastewater earlier today in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Approximately 600 residents in Bullitt County, North Carolina have had water service restored after and a boil advisory lifted after following a water main break yesterday.
A water main break yesterday has closed a major street in Colorado Springs, Colorado until Thursday after water got under the asphalt causing the road to buckle.
Sewer Rate News
Hailey, Idaho
Hopewell, Virginia
Worthington, Indiana
03.23.09
Monday Headlines: Colo. Communities Struggle Maintaining Water Systems
Smaller communities across Colorado are having a difficult time maintaining their drinking water systems and meeting stricter federal requirements for those systems. Despite receiving $32 million in stimulus funds to help finance drinking-water projects, the money is only a down payment on the state’s existing needs. To illustrate this point, requests for state aid to improve water systems have increased from $800 million to $1.3 billion since 2005.
Headlines
Most of the water projects in Allegany County, Maryland will be funded with money from the economic stimulus money. The city of Cumberland will receive $6 million to help upgrade its wastewater treatment plant, and the town of LaVale will receive $1.3 million to rehabilitate an interceptor.
Fulton County, Georgia is likely to have to pay huge fines after spilling almost 1 millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River in the first few months of 2009.
Two to three feet of water flooded streets and caused road closures near Fenway Park in Boston after a water main break ruptured shooting water 25-feet in the air.
A long-awaited sanitary and storm-sewer replacement project designed to alleviate flooding and sewer backups in Moosic, Pennsylvania is now under construction. The project will provide relief to some residents who have experienced flooding and sewer backups for several decades.
Sewer Rate News
Dryden, New York
Sea Isle City, New Jersey
03.11.09
Wednesday Headlines: Stimulus Helps Towns with Treatment Plant Upgrades
Connecticut state officials announced today that the towns of South Windsor and Stafford are among those in the state that will receive federal and state money for upgrades to their sewer treatment plants.
Headlines
Placer County, California is waiting on a final recommendation to build a regional wastewater pipeline or upgrade a sewer treatment plant until after it has a better idea that it will gain a share of federal economic stimulus funds for the more expensive pipeline project.
In Laredo, Texas, an intersection remains closed after a break in a 20-inch water main break flooded a street and caused major problems for thousands of residents all around the city.
A water main break in Quincy, Massachusetts Tuesday morning left a nursing home and three houses without for more than six hours yesterday.
A sewer district in Chillicothe, Ohio which has received a $250,000 grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission to help offset the cost of sanitary sewer installation is ready to take the project to bid. The grant will help offset the approximately $1 million cost of the project.
Sewer Rate News
Alamosa, Colorado
Central, South Carolina
Detroit, Michigan
01.15.09
Thursday Headlines: D.C. to Have Special Crews for Water Main Breaks During Inauguration Weekend
City officials in Washington, D.C. said Wednesday they will deploy special road crews during the extended inauguration weekend to fix broken water mains after two in the past three days have snarled already barricaded-and-detoured downtown streets.
Headlines
In Pennsylvania, the borough of Hanover will be taking a major step in the next few months in complying with state mandates to upgrade its sewer system. Since 2006, the borough has been raising sewer rates gradually from $250 to $400 now yearly for the average household to offset the costs.
A 12-inch water main break snarled rush-hour traffic this morning at a major three-way intersection east of Cleveland in East Richmond, Ohio. Witnesses at the scene said water was running down the road creating icy conditions.
The extremely cold temperatures may be to blame for a water main break in a Cincinnati neighborhood early this morning. Water was seen shooting several feet into the air for about an hour before the being shut off and salt trucks dispatched to help combat the sheet of ice forming on the road.
A major road in Foster Township, Pennsylvania was closed and three customers were without water after a main break on Wednesday. There was no estimate as to when the main would be fixed and the road re-opened.
Sewer Rate News
Antonito, Colorado
Kenova, West Virginia
Pentwater, Michigan
Perris, California
12.15.08
Monday Headlines: Sewer Plans for City are $150 Million over 40 Years
The City Council in St. Joseph, Missouri will vote tonight on approving a $2.7 million contract to craft a facilities plan that will determine how the city spends $150 million on sewers over the next 40 years. The city’s combined sewer overflow long-term control plan will cost $450 million over 120 years.
Headlines
The most expensive and elaborate portion of Lynchburg, Virginia’s CSO project was just completed. At a cost of $70 million, the city is replacing the James River Interceptor, a 7-mile sewer pipe that runs from Reusens Dam to the Lower Basin and collects sewage from the entire city.
Some Milford, Massachusetts residents had their homes “sewer-soaked” when untreated wastewater overflowed from the municipal system because of heavy rains.
Work crews are expected to be on Main Street in downtown Stratford, Connecticut until about 4 p.m. today following a water main break early this morning.
A large water main break flooded a Colorado Springs, Colorado home and shut down two lanes of traffic on Saturday. When the main broke, it started letting out about 16-hundred gallons of water every minute.
Sewer Rate News
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Lake St. Louis, Missouri
11.06.08
Thursday Headlines: Sinkhole Swallows Car After Water Main Break
Work crews in San Diego repaired a ruptured water line Thursday morning that sent muddy water flowing through a neighborhood. The broken water main forced evacuations, flooded homes and caused a sinkhole that swallowed a parked car. The mishap left dozens of homes without water service overnight.
Headlines
In Western Pennsylvania, the tiny borough of West Leechburg plans to borrow more than its annual budget to separate the sanitary and storm sewers in the last area of the borough where they still are combined. The council is scheduled to vote next week on borrowing $400,000, which would cover half the cost of the $800,000 project.
A Wednesday morning water main break in Coloroado Springs, Colorado caused some headaches with 18 homes losing water. The situation is expected to get worse for the city temperature changes comdined with aging pipes is expected to lead to more breaks.
An assisted living facility in Lincoln, Illinois cleared a major hurdle for a proposed expansion project Monday when the City Council approved changes to a sewer upgrade.
Before Duluth, Minnesota can build its next underground holding tank for sanitary sewer overflows, it’s got some cleanup to do. The chosen site has been found to contain lead, diesel compounds and selenium that exceed state health risk standards.
Sewer Rate News
Sayre, Pennsylvania
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
