July 23, 2010
Friday’s Water News: Old Sewage Pipes in Pittsburgh Hinder Development
In recent years, the gas industry has been booming in Pittsburgh. However, with the increasing development of infrastructure, it is becoming clear that the city’s 100 year old wastewater system cannot handle the new burdens of machinery and an increasing population. Sewage spills are on the rise as well as contamination in Pittsburgh’s water ways, officials say.
Headlines
A clogged pipe in Honolulu, Hawaii led to 3,250 gallons of sewage to spill into nearby Kalihi stream, which flows directly into Keehi Lagoon. The Hawaii Department of Health has been notified of the spill.
The city of Fort Worth, Texas, has been fined $7,550 dollars for accidentally spilling 72,000 gallons of sewage into Little Fossil Creek, killing hundreds of fish. This is the fourth wastewater accident in two years, officials say.
Public Works crews in Indianapolis worked to fix a water main early this morning after a break in the main caused flooding in one neighborhood. The break in the 40-year old main forced water to shoot in the air and flood an apartment complex parking lot.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, the town of Asbury Park, New Jersey is fixing it’s wastewater system. The project is going to cost $15 million dollars, which is being funded by low-interest stimulus loans.
Sewer Rate News
Charles Town, West Virginia
Longview, Texas
New Albany, Indiana
Santa Clarita, California
July 15, 2010
Thursday’s Water News: Service Finally Restored to Parts of Fairfield County (Conn.)
Water service has been restored for customers in several towns in Fairfield County after a major water main break Monday in Westport. The 2-foot line broke Monday morning, leaving more than 1,000 without water. The situation became so dire, that town officials in Ridgefield declared a water emergency and said residents should use water only to drink or cook with. The 2-foot line broke Monday morning, leaving more than 1,000 without water.
Headlines
A water main break on the West Side of Evansville, Indiana has prompted local officials to issue a precautionary boil advisory for a neighborhood there.
A one-mile stretch of road was closed in Edgefield County, South Carolina after a water main break damaged the road.
New York City has begun to look at the way Philadelphia is addressing its sewer overflow problems in order to get a better handle on its own sewer overflow challenges.
Stimulus Spotlight
The Town of Hotchkiss, Colorado received a $775,000 loan with 100 percent principal forgiveness–thanks to the economic stimulus–to complete a water main project to benefit the local high school.
Sewer Rate News
Honolulu, Hawaii
Marco Island, Florida
Santa Rosa, Florida
July 14, 2010
Wednesday’s Water News: 42,000 Gallons of Sewage Spills in Oakland, West Virginia
A pump station failure in Oakland, West Virginia caused 42,000 gallons of sewage leaks near local Deep Creek Lake. The cause of the failure is unknown and officials have blocked off any area that could have possibly been contaminated until further notice. Deep Creek Lake is currently being tested for contamination as well.
Headlines
Heavy rains cause a raw sewage overflow into Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio. Officials have warned that citizens should not swim at nearby Edgewater Beach until further notice. The overflow occurred because Cleveland’s wastewater system was overtaxed during the rains.
A Children’s Center in Oklahoma, City, Oklahoma is facing costs estimated at $100,000 dollars after heavy rains in the city caused sewage overflows. The wastewater system could not handle the rain, and sewage spewed into the center, causing damage.
A sewer main break in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida has caused officials to warn residents to avoid using the water in the area, even for drinking, until the problem is fixed.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the economic stimulus package, the island of Kauai in Hawaii is doubling the capacity of its wastewater plant. The $7.4 million dollar project will help the island deal with its wastewater problems.
Sewer Rate News
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Lawrence, Kansas
St. Mary’s Georgia
Warrenton, Oregon
June 29, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: Miami’s Sewers in Need of Repair
Sewer system infrastructure in Miami, Florida is in dire need of repair. The underground piping system is over 40 years old and is reaching the end of its useful life. However, the city lacks the necessary capital to undertake such sweeping renewal of its 13,600 miles of underground piping for water and sewage.
Headlines
A large water main break has buckled part of a road in Evansville, Indiana. The large pipe began gushing early Tuesday morning, but officials are hastily repairing it. Roads near the break were closed while repairs while being made.
A water main break in North Platte, Nebraska flooded a parking lot over the weekend. The pipe had been installed in the 1950′s and has since received no renewal or replacement. The clean-up crews discovered a huge hole in the side of the pipe, posing the notion that similar pipes of that age may be at risk.
Stimulus Spotlight
A series of construction projects are underway in Cape Charles, Virginia including the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant with stimulus money funding most of the project.
The outgoing City Manager in Buchanan, Michigan says her proudest accomplishment was securing federal stimulus dollars for ongoing water and sewer improvements that will save the city about $3 million or about 40 percent of the project’s cost.
Sewer Rate News
Honolulu, Hawaii
Rainier, Washington
Rutland, Vermont
South Bend, Indiana
May 13, 2010
Thursday’s Water News: House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Drinking Water SRF
The House Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing today on reauthorization of EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The hearing follows the introduction of legislation this week by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass) to reauthorize the program.
Headlines
Engineers have identified as many as 100 other couplings similar to the one that ruptured earlier this month in the Boston area triggering a water-main break that left 2 million residents without safe drinking water for 2 days.
A sewer main line break in Grandview, Washington spilled an estimated 300,000 gallons of wastewater into the Sand Canyon water drain and was expected to reach the Yakima River. As a result, a health alert has been issued advising people not to swim in the river or drink untreated water from it.
Stimulus Spotlight
Construction is underway on a $38 million project to replace the outdated sewer system in Framingham, Massachusetts thanks in part to the economic stimulus. The stimulus is providing $4.46 million in grants with the rest of the $38 million project being funded by a low-interest loan through the state revolving fund.
In Hawaii, construction work has finished on a $3.5 million economic stimulus project in Kauai County to improve the reliability of water service in an area that has suffered from frequent water main breaks.
About 10 percent of the Union-Rome Township Sewer District (Ohio) relining project is completed. The $3.9 million project is expected to be completed by February 2011 and was financed in part by economic stimulus money with the other half from a low-interest loan from the Ohio EPA Water Pollution Control Loan Fund.
Sewer Rate News
Belmont, California
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Palm Springs, California
Winchester, Virginia
March 12, 2010
Friday’s Water News: Parker City, Ind. Receives A Grant to Study Water Infrastructure Needs
The Town of Parker City, Indiana received a $40,000 planning grant to fund a stormwater and wastewater infrastructure planning study. These federal dollars are from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program administered by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). Parker City is currently experiencing several water infrastructure issues, including significant overflow and infiltration issues, a water treatment plant in poor repair, and unnecessary storm drainage into a nearby creek.
Headlines
Crews from the Board of Water Supply have closed two lanes of Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu, Hawaii while they work to repair a leak on a 12-inch water main. According to the BWS, the water main was originally installed in 1934.
Water pollution is a major concern for many areas, and in Frostburg, Maryland tons of raw sewage have been overflowing into Georgia’s Creek for years now. The three combined sewer overflow sites in Frostburg discharge into the creek up to 60 times a year. Public works officials are working with the State of Maryland to eliminate the overflows. The cost for Frostburg alone is more than 16 million dollars. The completion year for the elimination of all overflows in Allegany County is 2023.
In Florida, Panama City Beach Council members approved a proposal to extend sewer lines. Three hundred and thirty thousand dollars of the cost will come from the Department of Environmental Protection fines levied against the airport authority and contractor Phoenix Construction.
Stimulus Spotlight
The Boone County, Missouri Regional Sewer District will receive $128,000 of stimulus money. Regional sewer district Director Tom Ratermann said the sewer district will use its funds to upgrade five wastewater treatment plants.
City work crews in Bandera, Texas are busy, doing the drainage work and installing new sewer pipes that the City of Bandera received a stimulus grant to complete.
Sewer Rate News
Weirton, West Virginia
Traverse City, Michigan
Downs, Illinois
Chicopee, Massachusetts
February 22, 2010
Monday’s Water News: Aqua Pennsylvania to Spend $250M in Infrastructure Improvements
Aqua Pennsylvania has announced it has nearly $32 million worth of capital improvements in store for Chester County, including the replacement of aging water mains and two major distribution systems. The amount is part of the $250 million that the water utility is expected to spend statewide this year to maintain and improve its water infrastructure.
Headlines
In South Carolina, the North Charleston wastewater treatment plant has experienced a sewage spill with more than 5,000 gallons untreated wastewater being released into the Ashley River after a sewer line broke.
Residents in Honolulu were asked to conserve water after a 16-inch main break. The main was installed in 1964 and supplies much of the water to the North Shore area.
Stimulus Spotlight
Ridgefield and Brookfield are among the Connecticut communities that have begun local drinking-water projects in time to meet a deadline for using federal economic-stimulus money.
December 15, 2009
Tuesday’s Water News: Water Main Break Closes Schools, Businesses
The city of Kalama, Washington, ran out of water on Monday after a water main ruptured, draining the municipal reservoir. That left most residents without water for several hours and shut down schools and some businesses.
Headlines
A break in a 12-inch water pipe in a Port Townsend, Washington neighborhood led to the temporary closure of restaurants in the area using city water.
Officials in Lyon County, Nevada issued a boil order for a some residents in the small community of Stagecoach after a water main in the area broke Monday afternoon.
Board of Water Supply crews this morning are repairing a broken 6-inch water main in Wahiawa, Hawaii, near Honolulu. About 20 homes were without water after the break.
Stimulus Spotlight
Several Western Slope communities in Colorado are going to have to spend millions of dollars more for various water and wastewater expansion projects because of Davis-Bacon provisions in ARRA. The Mayor of Fruita estimates his city’s $30.9 million wastewater treatment project, which it has been planning for years and was about to start, will cost another $1.3 million because of the provision.
Sewer Rate News
Caseville, Michigan
Egelston Township, Michigan
South Williamsport, Pennsylvania
December 10, 2009
Thursday’s Water News: Huntington (W.V.) to Begin Sewer Line Extension
Work will begin soon in Huntington, West Virginia on a sewer line extension project that will help prevent backups. The project is part of the board’s EPA mandated long-term control plan to ultimately lessen the amount of raw human sewage being leaked untreated into the Ohio River.
Headlines
In Baltimore, heavy rains in recent days caused a sanitary sewer overflow of 42,000 gallons a diluted mix of wastewater. The city is in the midst of a $1 billion project to repair and replace pipes and equipment in the city’s sewage system.
A water main break in Los Angeles early Thursday resulted in a 30-foot geyser. Water was seen shooting out of a hole beneath a station wagon, which was parked on the street.
Stimulus Spotlight
Hawaii County has received a binding commitment for a $1.1 million zero-interest loan with principal forgiveness for a wastewater project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Federal stimulus funds will help solve a decades-long problem with sewage in a Joliet, Illinois neighborhood.
Presidio, Texas will receive over $121 million dollars in stimulus funds to build a new waste water treatment plant.
Sewer Rate News
Kansas City, Missouri
Kent, Connecticut
Pelham, Alabama
Tamalpais Valley, California
December 2, 2009
Wednesday’s Water News: 500,000 Gallons of Sewage Released in Amarillo
Crews of the city of Amarillo and the state of Texas are monitoring the effects of a sewage pipeline break that occurred Monday. The rupture in the 16-inch-diameter force main caused the release of an estimated 500,000 gallons of sewage, a small amount of which may have reached nearby Southeast Lake.
Headlines
Several hundred residents in Clarksburg, Maryland were expected to experience low water pressure or discolored water today while the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission repairs a 16-inch water main.
Board of Water Supply crews in Oahu have finished repairing a broken 24-inch water main in Hawaii. Residents near the area are still asked to use water for essential needs only to allow area reservoirs to recover.
A stretch of a major road in Lexington, Kentucky has been reopened to traffic following a major water main break.
Stimulus Spotlight
In El Paso, Texas the city’s stormwater utility is moving forward with three more drainage improvement projects, thanks to the federal stimulus program that will provide interest-free financing. The city is expected to save nearly $3.6 million in interest over 20 years.
Sewer Rate News
Bucyrus, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Mount Olive, New Jersey
Newton, Massachusetts
