11.21.08
Friday Headlines: Town in Maine Looks to Repair Water Main Under I-95
Looking to repair a water main break under Interstate 95, the Board of Selectmen in Seabrook, Maine are considering replacing the main using directional drilling technology to pull a new pipe through a bore hole. The 12-inch, 350-foot water main remains shut off after it broke in two places in November 2007 and the cost of repair is estimated at $235,700.
Headlines
Town officials in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania are busily trying to figure out how to pay for $1.4 million in state mandated sewer work. The sewer work includes dredging sludge out of lagoons at the treatment plant, correcting combined sewer overflow problems and installing flow meters.
Customers of the Grand Rapids, Michigan water and sewer systems will face big rate increases next year, thanks to expansive upgrades and the defection of five suburbs from its sewer system. The average city resident will get a quarterly water and sewer bill of $168.10, an 8.2 percent jump over this year.
A broken water main in Chester, Vermont left some residents without water last night and forced the closure of a local high school for today.
For more than a week, the left lane of a key San Francisco artery has been closed by orange cones and sawhorses. The sinkhole, formed because of a broken sewer main, needs major repair. and patching the hole is in advisable because the hole might return and cause serious damage to a vehicle.
Sewer Rate News
Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Coldwater, Michigan
El Dorado, Arkansas
Sayre Borough, Pennsylvania
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
11.05.08
Wednesday Headlines: Ballot Initiatives for Water Infrastructure Pass in 3 States
Measures were on the ballot in three states yesterday to increase investments in water and wastewater infrastructure.
In the Keystone state, Pennsylvanians voted overwhelmingly to adopt the only statewide measure on the ballot yesterday, allowing state leaders to borrow $400 million for water and sewer improvements. An estimated 2,200 drinking water systems and 1,060 wastewater systems in the state must spend an estimated $20 billion to meet federal and state clean water standards.
In the third referendum question on Maine’s ballot Tuesday, voters authorized a $3.4 million bond issue for drinking water programs and construction of wastewater treatment facilities.
And in Arkansas, voters approved a measure that will allow up to $300 million in bonds to be issued for water projects around the state.
10.24.08
Friday Headlines: Water Main Break Traps Residents in Apartment Complex
Part of 33rd Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma will be closed for about a week after a water main break flooded a portion of the city Thursday morning. The water trapped people who live at a local apartment complex. City Public Works officials said recent rains caused the ground to shift, which broke the water line.
Headlines
A water main break may leave several hundred homes and businesses in part of Scranton, Pennsylvania without water service. People may have low water pressure, cloudy water or no water service at all.
In Atlantic, Iowa, the city council is considering an expansion of its wastewater treatment facility at a cost of $16 million. Should the city decide to proceed with the option to build a new $16 million facility, rates would increase to $42.55 for the first 3,000 gallons and $2.25 for each 1,000 gallons after that. An average bill would cost just under $50 a month.
With Election Day less than two weeks away, the media is focusing more on a ballot question in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Should the state borrow $400 million to pay for water and sewer improvements? Half the $400 million would go toward grants, and the rest would be issued as low-interest loans.
The village of Middleport has received a $140,169 low-interest loan from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to help plan long-term control of combined sewer overflows. Such overflows are a major cause of water pollution and can have adverse effect on human health.
Sewer Rate News
Blacklake, Georgia
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Richmond, Missouri
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.
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
09.15.08
Monday Headlines: Overflows Cause Cty. to Warn Against Contact with River
In Michigan, the Genesee County Health Department is warning against any contact with the Flint and Shiawassee rivers after a weekend of rain caused large-scale sewage overflows across the county. The city of Flushing discharged more than 400,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Flint River Sunday, and the cities of Flint, Fenton and Grand Blanc also reported overflows into the rivers.
Headlines
Steps are being taken in Canton, Illinois to ensure problems don’t occur at its wastewater treatment facility, as well as to improve the infrastructure of the facility for the future.
Officials in Tampa, Florida say approximately 200,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into Sweetwater Creek on Friday after a 20-inch sewage pipeline ruptured.
A water main break at the Utah State Capitol complex in Salt Lake City early this morning caused flooding that shut down the government’s offices for the entire day. A short time after midnight, a 50-year-old water main underneath the concrete ruptured and sent water to many areas — including some indoor, where employees spend their work days.
According to an ongoing Associated Press investigation, U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities are annually flushing millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into America’s drinking water.
Sewer Rate News
Deltona, Florida
Ogunquit, Maine
09.08.08
Monday Headlines: Pipe Break Causes Sewage Spill in Siesta Key
A break in a pipe in the Siesta Key area of Sarasota, Florida caused 200,000 to 300,000 gallons of raw sewage to spill on Saturday night. The pipe that cracked was 40 years old and had been sitting on top of another pipe.
Headlines
A construction crew in Alton, Illinois plans this week to begin putting in two storm sewer lateral pipes and repairing a large sinkhole at public housing complex. Last spring a Y-shaped storm sewer drain with a concrete slab on top collapsed and the dirt around it kept falling in, eventually creating a hole 10 to 12 feet deep and 40 feet in diameter.
An underground water main break in Ventnor City, New Jersey has officials working round the clock. So far some residents and businesses have been without water for two days.
A water main break in Portland, Maine this morning has created a large sinkhole and traffic delays.
Monroe, Michigan’s wastewater treatment facility will undergo major upgrades with the help of a $9 million low-interest loan it received from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The money will be used to replace outdated equipment.
Sewer Rate News
Carlsbad, California
Palo Pinto County, Texas
07.24.08
Thursday Headlines: Heavy Rain Causes CSO in Bay County, Mich.
Heavy thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon caused of an overflow of partially treated sewage from a retention basin in Bay County, Michigan. More than 1.8 million gallons were discharged from the combined sewer system that takes in both stormwater and sanitary sewage in the same pipes.
In Delaware, with the municipal election just around the corner, Rehoboth Beach’s mayoral candidates quickly squared off over wastewater disposal alternatives.
The town of Porter, Indiana on will need a 60 percent sewer rate increase, in two phases, to bring the town’s system into compliance with Indiana Department of Environmental Management requirements.
Sewer Rate News
DeSoto County, Mississippi
Elkland, Pennsylvania
Los Altos, California
Ogunquit, Maine
07.07.08
Monday Headlines: Bridgeport Sewer Project Nearing Completion
Since Spring 2004, the East Side of Bridgeport, Connecticut has been undergoing a massive project to replace the area’s old sewer mains. While residents have complained about torn up streets there is good news as the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
In addition, the city is separating its storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems. Bridgeport has not upgraded its sewer system since it was first installed in the early 1900s.
Headlines
More from the Nutmeg State, a portion of Route 85 in Waterford is expected to reopen today as crews repair the damage this weekend from a broken water main. Water from the break, which occurred early Friday morning, eroded the earth under the pavement and left a 10-foot-deep hole between 10 and 15 feet in diameter in the middle of Route 85.
In Albuquerque, A huge sinkhole nearly swallowed a fire truck this morning. The sinkhole was formed after a large water line broke under the street.
In Lewiston, Maine, public works crews worked through the night on Saturday to repair a broken sewer pipe, after the collapse of a section of a 20-inch sewer line serving a large part of the city. Crews planned to repair the line by cutting out the broken section and attaching a new PVC-pipe with couplings to the existing clay line.
Sewer Rate News
Dillon, Montana
Jacksonville, Florida
Ocala, Florida
O’Fallon, Missouri
