07.08.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Rainfall Causes Record Beach Closures in Massachusetts
The state of Massachusetts has had a record number of beach closures so far this season, mainly due to high bacteria levels caused by heavy rainfall. According to the state’s Department of Public Health there have been 188 closures of the state’s roughly 1,100 bathing beaches.
Headlines
Whitestown, New York contractor crews will be testing sewer lines this week for the engineering study for the Oneida County Sewer District’s overflow abatement project. The test locates leaks, faulty connections and broken pipelines in the system which will prevent overflows.
Some good news out of Orange County, California that for the sixth year in a row sewage spills have dropped. This is part of a continuing trend toward cleaner beaches the sewage spill rate has been at its lowest since 2000.
Stimulus Spotlight
The Texas Water Development Board has been awarded $160 million worth of stimulus funds to help finance the cost of replacing water infrastructures in the state. EPA officials say the funds will go to invest in several overdue water projects that are essential to protecting public heath and the environment.
Two Utah Indian tribes are getting pieces of the $90 million in stimulus money targeted at helping to upgrade water quality and create jobs for tribal communities nationwide.
Sewer Rate News
Hamilton, Iowa
Herber Springs, Arkansas
Kansas City, Missouri
New Albany, Indiana
06.04.09
Thursday’s Water News: Massive Water Main Break in Norfolk
A major thoroughfare in Norfolk, Virginia was reopened this morning after a break in a 30-inch water main flooded the nearby railroad underpass in 6 feet of water Wednesday evening.
Headlines
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is looking for public input on two sewer projects proposed by the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, one to serve the city’s growing northeast side and the other to shore up a deteriorating pipe.
Water quickly rushed down a road in the eastside of El Paso, Texas early this morning after a rupture in a 8-inch water main
Stimulus Spotlight
In New York, three Capital Region counties will receive $20.5 million of federal stimulus funding to build water treatment facilities or upgrade sewer systems.
Seven storm-water projects in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri will receive nearly $3.1 million combined from the recently passed economic stimulus legislation.
Sewer Rate News
Fontana, California
Granby, Massachusetts
Mount Vernon-Lisbon, Iowa
06.02.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Hartford to Start Massive Sewer Project
The largest public works project in Hartford, Connecticut history has started which will redo part of the city’s century-old sewer system. The first leg of the 15-year, $2 billion project will separate sewage from storm water in metro Hartford and reduce the frequency of sewer overflows from once a week to once a year.
Headlines
In Florida, St. Augustine city officials on Monday located a 19-inch-long, 6-inch-wide gash in a submerged 1960s-era pipe that caused hundreds of gallons of raw sewage to bubble up into Oyster Creek over the weekend.
The town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine has reached an agreement to fix sewer overflows at one of its pump stations which could cost the town hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A water main break has left an estimated 300 customers without water and restricted traffic in the east part of Mesa, Arizona.
Stimulus Spotlight
Vermont’s congressional delegation has announced $39 million in federal economic stimulus funds for drinking water and wastewater projects throughout the state.
Sewer Rate News
Bad Axe, Michigan
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Sioux City, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
05.29.09
Thursday and Friday’s Water News: Pittsburgh Water Main Break Leads to Traffic Delays
Pardon my lack of posting yesterday as I was under the weather, to make it up to you here is a supersized update.
Drivers on Pittsburgh’s South Side were met with traffic delays on Thursday morning, after thousands of gallons of water went gushing from a broken 16-inch main into the streets leaving about 15 homes without water service.
Headlines
A break in a 24-inch water main closed a portion of a major road in West Springfield, Massachusetts, flooding it with about 2 million gallons of water and causing traffic problems.
The northbound lanes of a busy road in Utica, Michigan are closed because of a large water main break and the repairs are expected to take all day.
After more than four years of preparation, officials have broken ground on a state-of-the-art water filtration plant in East Chicago, Indiana. The $55 million facility will provide the purest drinking water currently available and replace the existing 45-year-old facility.
Stimulus Spotlight
The town of Wynot in the northeast corner of Nebraska is getting nearly $1.2 million in federal stimulus money for improvements to its water and wastewater systems.
Farmington, New Mexico has been awarded $2.1 million in federal and state funds to improve more than two miles of water piping–half paid through the federal stimulus bill and half through a state low-interest loan program.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that 10 New York water and wastewater projects will receive $14.8 million through the federal stimulus package.
Money from the economic stimulus package will pay for the construction of nine miles of water pipelines in downtown Tampa and Davis Islands. The funding will come from a $23 million low-interest loan and a $2.5 million grant and is expected to create about 125 jobs beginning this October.
Sewer Rate News
Goshen, New York
Middlebury, Vermont
Portland, Oregon
Washington County, Oregon
05.05.09
Tuesday Headlines: Alabama Considers Help for Jefferson Cty. Sewer Debt
A push is on to get state lawmakers in Alabama to consider using excess money from Jefferson County’s one-cent sales tax for schools to pay for the county’s massive sewer debt.
Headlines
A ruptured sewer line pumping raw wastewater into a creek in northwest Davenport, Iowa was under repair today by public works crews. As a precaution, chlorine is being added three times rather than the usual two times during treatment. In addition, chlorine is being added at the inflow pipe.
Newton, Iowa is exploring its options to correct sewer backups occurring in a neighborhood during heavy rains. Last year, the city hired an engineering firm to update its wastewater Facility Plan Update. In its study the engineering firm indicated that the sewer system in the affected area did not have adequate capacity to handle peak flow during heavy rain storms.
A water main that sprang a leak early Monday morning along Route 42 in Dayton, Virginia has been repaired.
Stimulus Spotlight
The town of Stanley, Pennsylvania will receive $100,000 in federal economic stimulus funds to control inflow and infiltration problems with the sewer system.
Sewer Rate News
Crown Point, Indiana
Newton, Massachusetts
Washington County, Maryland
04.24.09
Friday Headlines: Ohio Announces Stimulus Funding for Projects
The Ohio EPA yesterday announced the 324 water and wastewater infrastructure projects that will be funded from $278 million in federal stimulus money. 3,300 applications were received by Ohio EPA from cities, counties and villages seeking funding to fix or replace water and wastewater infrastructure.
Headlines
A budget review committee in Nashua, New Hampshire has recomended borrowing $51.3 million for improvements to the city’s combined sewer system.
A Connecticut homeowner’s discovery on Monday of what turned out to be harmless copepods and rotifers in his water filter prompted an initial advisory to tens of thousands of customers in Hartford and nine area communities to boil their tap water before drinking it or using it for cooking.
Crews in Ottumwa, Iowa are conducting smoke tests on the sewer system to locate breaks and defects in sanitary sewer pipes.
A $486,000 sanitary sewer project in Torrington, Connecticut is still expected to be completed on time despite currently being slightly behind schedule.
Sewer Rate News
North Ridgeville, Ohio
O’Fallon, Missouri
03.26.09
Thursday Headlines: St. Louis Proposes $2 Billion Sewer System Upgrade
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, the nation’s fourth largest sewer system, has proposed a $2 billion sewer improvement project to last several decades aimed at correcting the city’s sewer overflow problem. It’s the largest public infrastructure improvement in the region’s history. Customers would pay for most of the improvements through increased sewer rates.
Headlines
In California, arguments between urban and rural water districts may slow down how fast the $280 million in wastewater infrastructure from the economic stimulus can be used for projects. At the heart of the argument, urban lawmakers have taken exception with guidelines for projects that they believe benefit poor rural areas but keep poor areas of large cities from getting any funding. The state legislature is working on amending the rules to allow urban water districts to apply for grant funding that rural water districts are already eligible to receive.
State and local officials in Vermont are trying to figure out which communities will benefit from millions in federal stimulus money for drinking water and sewer projects.
A 20-inch sewer line in a Tampa, Florida neighborhood has broken for the third time since September. City officials say they won’t know how much sewage flowed into a nearby creek until tests are completed.
Fort Madison, Iowa, a small city in the southeastern part of the state, has reached an agreement with the EPA to implement a plan addressing combined sewer overflows into the Mississippi River.
Sewer Rate News
Del Mar, California
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Waukee, Iowa
03.20.09
Friday Headlines: Calif. Communities Want Stimulus Funds for Water Projects
In California, the demand for stimulus funds for water and sewer projects is much greater than the money available. The Department of Public Health has received 2,274 drinking water project proposals with a total value of $6.8 billion, but California can expect to receive only $168 million from the federal stimulus. On the wastewater side, the State Water Resources Control Board is in a similar position, with $280 million to distribute and initial requests that already surpass $1 billion.
Headlines
State legislators in Eastern Oklahoma are encouraging area municipalities to apply for stimulus funds for water and sewer infrastructure projects. The economic stimulus includes $31 million each for Oklahoma’s CWSRF and DWSRF programs, and also includes $70 million for USDA Rural Development’s Water and Wastewater loans and grants.
Jeffersonville, Indiana sewer customers are likely to see their rates double in the next two to four years as the city makes $47.6 million in improvements to its sewer system to eliminate frequent overflows after heavy rains and comply with federal mandates.
Next month, Lansing, Michigan will roll out the next phase of its Combined Sewer Overflow project. Lansing is in the 18th year of a 30-year plan to eliminate sewer overflows from entering into the Grand River.
Following up on a story from Wednesday, it will cost the city of Springfield, Massachusetts more than $500,000 to repair Wednesday’s water main break that spilled more than 5.5 million gallons of water.
Sewer Rate News
Fremont, Ohio
Lakemore, Ohio
Liberty Center, Iowa
03.19.09
Thursday Headlines: Fines Likely for Georgia Community After Overflow
Water officials in Columbus, Georgia could face stiff fines after more than five inches rain overwhelmed the system causing 1.5 million gallons of sewage to spill into the Chattahoochee River over the weekend.
Headlines
In California, a five-year plan of over $22 million in upgrades is planned for the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District’s sewer system and water treatment facilities, prompting officials to propose annual rate hikes to pay for the improvements.
A sewer line failure resulted in the discharge of untreated sewage in Graniteville, South Carolina today. The public has been advised to avoid contact with waters around and downstream of the overflow.
The state of Texas will receive nearly $342 million from the economic stimulus for improvements and protection of public water supplies.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver has announced that the city of Centerville will receive a federal award of $600,000 to replace its aging and damaged storm sewer system.
Sewer Rate News
Albemarle County, Virginia
Ashland, Oregon
El Dorado, Arkansas
Vernon, Michigan
02.20.09
Friday Headlines: Interstate Closed After Leaking Drainpipe Causes Sinkhole
Work to repair a sinkhole and drainpipe beneath Interstate 215 in Murrieta , California will take until next week. The sinkhole was caused when the leaking drainpipe and rainwater eroded the soil around the pipe. I-215 has been closed and in both directions in the area around the sinkhole and will not completely reopen until Tuesday.
Headlines
According to federal officials, as part of the stimulus plan, the state of Tennessee will receive an estimated $77.7 million in federal dollars to work on sewage treatment plants, water quality and drinking water systems.
Sixty mayors from across the country met with President Obama this morning to discuss the recently passed economic stimulus package. Among the Mayors in attendance was Bill Gluba–the Mayor of Davenport, Iowa–who pitched a long wish list of city projects, most notably a sewer diversion tunnel.
A water main break on in Spotsylvania County, Virginia is causing major traffic delays today. Water service will be disrupted for some residents while repairs are being made.
The state of Virginia will receive about $102 million from the recently approved federal stimulus legislation for improved sewage treatment plants, water quality and drinking water systems.
Sewer Rate News
Morristown, Indiana
North Ridgeville, Ohio
Norwood, Massachusetts
South Zanesville, Ohio
