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
11.24.08
Monday Headlines: Chesapeake Bay Cleanup to Cost Pennsylvania $1.4 Bil.
Upgrading sewer treatment systems to meet Chesapeake Bay cleanup mandates will cost Pennsylvania municipalities an estimated $1.4 billion, according to a new state legislative study. The study by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee was authorized by the state Senate to find out how much the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy will cost to implement.
Headlines
Warning signs were posted Sunday after thousands of gallons of sewage spilled out of manholes in several areas across Honolulu. This weekend’s heavy rains are being blamed for the overflows.
Havelock, North Carolina experienced a spill of untreated wastewater of estimated 60,000 gallons today, an estimated 10,000 of which reached State waters.
About 600 gallons of raw sewage spilled Friday onto a seaside road about a quarter-mile south of Hobson County Park in Ventura, California.
A home in Lancaster, Kentucky may be a total loss after a sewage backup ruined the basement and part of the front lawn. A sewer pipe that serves about 40 homes in the area had blockage in it caused by rags that may have been caught in a crack in the pipe.
A water main break in Waynesboro, Virginia created a small sinkhole and forced an elementary school to shut down Monday.
Sewer Rate News
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Delaware, Ohio
10.21.08
Tuesday Headlines: Climate Change May Cause Heavier Rainfalls, More Overflows
A Washington Post story tackles the issue of climate change and how it may lead to significant increases in waterborne diseases around the world. The story suggests the nation’s water infrastructure may not be up to the challenge as heavier rainfalls may trigger sewage overflows, contaminating drinking water and endangering beachgoers.
The story also includes a national map (found here) illustrating the pervasiveness of waterborn diseases.
Headlines
In Brooklyn, New York, the stench of raw sewage in the Gowanus Canal may get worse before it gets any better. To repair the flushing tunnel the city must turn it off for two years as part of a $300-million cleanup. To compensate for the soon-to-be deactivated flushing tunnel, the city will attempt to reduce the amount of untreated waste that lingers in the canal when heavy rains overflow the aging sewers.
Ensuring the water keeps coming in and the sewage keeps flowing out is going to cost residents in the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda $3 million over the next few years. Councilman Joe Emminger acknowledged the high cost, but said investing early will benefit the town, especially since there appears to be little to no relief coming from state or federal levels.
Sewer Rate News
Grand Haven, Michigan
Oldham County, Kentucky
Rolla, Missouri
Rome, Georgia
10.17.08
Friday Headlines: Sinkhole Swallows RV After Sewer Collapses
A large chunk of a street in Cleveland, Ohio collapsed, creating a sinkhole that swallowed the back end of a camper. A spokesperson from the Department of Water said a sewer collapsed, creating a hole that is 15 feet by 15 feet and seven feet deep. (picture courtesy of WEWS-TV)
Headlines
After years of waiting, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has told the city of Wabash, Indiana what it needs to do with regards to its stormwater and sanitary sewers. Mayor Bob Vanlandingham was quick to point out that the work would involve millions of dollars and would almost certainly result in higher sewer bills in the near future to build up funds for the work to be done over the next 20 years.
In Oakland, California, an advisory issued Wednesday after sewage spilled into a harbor was lifted Thursday night when the water was deemed safe.
A water main break has closed a section of state Route 256 in Baltimore, Ohio.
Iowa City, Iowa likely will complete an emergency project to replace sewer lines damaged during the 2008 flood. If the lines are not replaced, they could release sewage directly into the Iowa River. Engineers estimate the project will cost more than $1 million but the city expects FEMA to reimburse 90% of the cost.
Sewer Rate News
Baytown, Texas
Jeffersonville, Kentucky
Russellville, Arkansas
York, Nebraska
09.24.08
Wednesday Headlines: $843 Mil. Needed to Repair Louisville’s Sewer System
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Louisville, Kentucky says its massive court-imposed plan to rehabilitate the sewer system will cost about 5 percent more than previously estimated. The new estimate of $843 million will pay for repairs to a system that annually spills about 4 billion gallons of sewage into local waterways, such as the Ohio River.
Headlines
In Chicago, a car was damaged after partially falling into a sinkhole created by a water main break. The car, which was parked, fell in after it the ground around it caved. “When the main broke, the water undermined the pavement and soil and created a hole,” said a City Department of Water Management spokesperson.
A quarter of a million people in the Houston region are still without running water nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ike caused extensive damage, Restoring water service may prove complicated. The problem has a myriad causes including severe infrastructure damage in coastal areas.
Sludge and sewage runoff from Bismarck, Missouri’s current treatment plant into a receiving stream has forced the city to move forward with plans for a new wastewater treatment plant or face stiff fines from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Southeastern Michigan has proposed investing $2.4 billion in projects aimed at reducing combined sewer overflows in communities, according to a report released Tuesday by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. The projects, in which about $1 billion is in place now, has resulted in an 85 percent reduction in untreated CSO discharges from 1990 levels, the report said.
Sewer Rate News
Bradenton, Florida
Humble, Texas
Huntington, West Virginia
Riverside, California
09.18.08
Thursday Headlines: Bay City Reports 57 Million Gallons in Sewer Overflows
In Michigan, the details of sewage overflows blamed on last weekend’s storm are starting to trickle in, with Bay City wastewater officials reporting a discharge of 57 million gallons to the Saginaw River. The overflow, of combined sewage and stormwater, occurred from Sunday through Tuesday and was reported Wednesday.
Headlines
As Peoria, Illinois decides how to address problems with combined sewer overflows, the city’s Public Works Department has developed three options for addressing the situation which range in price from $105 million to $260 million.
Quick work by a Honolulu Department of Environmental Services crew prevented 1,125 gallons of raw sewage which spilled out of a manhole and into a storm drain yesterday from reaching Moanalua Stream. The spill was caused by roots clogging an 8-inch sewer pipe.
After five water line breaks along the same segment in the past month, the city of Tyler, Texas has decided to do a line replacement at a cost of $150,000.
Construction crews had to shut-down a city block in York, Pennsylvania for more than 16 hours yesterday following an early morning water break. According to the York Water Company, the 10 inch water main break is a result of old age. The city estimates that 680 miles of piping under the city is about 100 years old, and that it will take around 100 years to replace all of it.
Sewer Rate News
Bath, Maine
Berea, Kentucky
09.03.08
Wednesday Headlines: Commission Seeks $12 mil for 22 Mo. Communities
The Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission is seeking approval from the 22 communities it serves in Eastern Missouri to apply for a loan up to $12 million to expand service and make major infrastructure improvements. Financing for the project would likely come from a state grant and its revolving loan fund.
Headlines
Taxpayers in Bardstown, Kentucky and nearly 20 other cities in the commonwealth are being forced to spend millions of dollars to correct problems with sewer overflows. Bardstown’s mayor says the city has begun building a new two mile long, $4 million dollar sewer line to help alleviate the problem and realizes they’ll have to spend more:
Roots that grew into a sewer line behind Gardner-Webb University are blamed for an untreated wastewater spill in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Town officials reported Tuesday that out of the 4,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled, 3,000 gallons made their way to an unnamed area creek near campus.
After a delay of about 10 years, the city council of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania was told yesterday that the time to solve the sewage-stormwater overflow problem has arrived.
Flooding that has plagued homeowners in a Perrysburg, Ohio subdivision should be alleviated with planned sewer repairs approved by the city council, which authorizes $66,000 worth of repairs to the underground sanitary sewer system within the subdivision.
Sewer Rate News
Bandera, Texas
North Lewisburg, Ohio
08.19.08
Tuesday Headlines: Ky. City Receives Earmark to Fix Water Infrastructure
Work to expand Lexington, Kentucky’s most troublesome sanitary sewer pump station will begin in Spring 2009. The $18 million project will be partially funded by a $1.18 million federal budget earmark. Explaining the purpose for the earmark, Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.) said, providing the proper infrastructure “is what government’s about and what government has to do to serve their people.”
Headlines
In Topeka, Kansas, a small amount of sewage that got into Wanamaker Creek on Monday prompted the city to issue stream advisory for the creek that flows to the Kansas River.
Monday morning’s sudden deluge caused the city of Portland, Oregon’s sewer system to overflow into the Willamette River.
In California, Placer County work crews had to repair a broken pipeline that spilled about 2,000 gallons of sewage into the Auburn Ravine. Residents are being urged to stay out of Auburn Ravine.
Here’s an interesting story about the state of Syracuse, New York’s water infrastructure, most of which was laid underground in the 1800s.
Sewer Rate News
Great Bend, Kansas
Helena, Montana
08.08.08
Friday Headlines: Water Main Break Affects Traffic in Wheeling, W.V.
The break of a 20-inch water main in Wheeling, West Virginia will disrupt traffic for this weekend’s Heritage Music BluesFest. City employees said it’s too early to determine when the break will be fixed.
Headlines
A couple is asking the town of Ashland, Massachusetts to pay to prevent sewage from backing up into their home after “big, brown, solid sludge” bubbled up a sink drain and all over their basement floor.
A water main break in Bowling Green, Kentucky reduced traffic on U.S. 31W from four lanes to two.
In Massachusetts, recent heavy rains and an aging drainage pipe created a sinkhole in front of a West Boylston home. The drainage pipe eroded into a semicircle 14 feet beneath the home. It is estimated that it will cost $60,000 to replace the pipe and repair the yard, which is the obligation of the town.
Sewer Rate News
Macomb, Illinois
Sulphur Springs, Texas
07.15.08
Tuesday Headlines: Five Years in, New Paltz Continues Sewer Repairs
Five years after New York state authorities demanded action to address sewer overflows, repairs to the Village of New Paltz sewer system are continuing. The following quote from the story is reflective of the situation throughout the country.
New Paltz is symbolic of a larger national problem. Overflows are common among the nation’s aging sewer systems, and federal and state authorities have begun stepping up enforcement.
New Paltz’s problems have been caused by too much water flowing through too small a system.
Headlines
Officials in Henderson, Kentucky are planning a $9 million sewer project that will separate the sewer system from the storm system. The city’s combined sewer system during periods of heavy rain have caused sewage to overflow into the Ohio River.
In Long Beach, California, a 300-gallon raw sewage spill Sunday night forced the closure of beaches at Alamitos Bay and Colorado Lagoon. This marks the third sewage spill this year that has resulted in a beach closure for Long Beach.
A major water main break in Bladensburg, Maryland overnight is expected to snarl traffic in the area today. Officials said the break was likely due to the water main being old. The pipe had been installed in 1925.
A bond measure request to pay for a new water treatment plant for the City of Newport, Virginia will be voted on by residents in the November general election. Four core projects at a cost of $15.9 million were identified as top priorities in order for the city to continue providing safe drinking water to its residents.
Sewer Rate News
Cambria, California
Covina, California
North Andover, Massachusetts
Ventura, California
