August 30, 2010
Monday’s Water News: Massive Water Main Break Leads to Smaller Ones in New Jersey
In New Jersey, seven additional water mains ruptured in and around Clifton and Passaic in the hours after a massive water main break last Tuesday dumped 40 million gallons of water into a parking lot.
Headlines
The Washington state Department of Ecology has lowered the dollar amount of the penalty that King County was assessed for sewer overflow violations earlier this year. Originally, King County was fined $46,000, but that amount was lowered to $39,500 after the penalty was recalculated by the state at King County’s request.
Work has begun in Duluth, Minnesota to address its sewer overflow problems by constructing a 1 million gallon tank at one of the Sanitary District’s pumping station.
Stimulus Spotlight
Officials in North Dakota today broke ground for a water treatment facility in Linton for the South Central Regional Water District. The project has received more than $21 million in federal stimulus grants and more than $7 million in federally backed loans.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District (Calif.) has decided to begin the second phase of a federally funded flood protection and habitat enhancement project on Lower Silver Creek in San Jose. The project, in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, has been awarded $18.5 million in federal economic stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Sewer Rate News
Buellton, California
Holmdel, New Jersey
Rome, Georgia
Superior, Wisconsin
August 6, 2010
Friday’s Water News: Sewage Spills Into Whitewater River in Richmond, Indiana
Heavy rains in Richmond, Indiana have led to sewage spills along Whitewater River, contaminating the water. The spill occurred because the rainwater and sewage system became overloaded. Officials have warned residents to avoid contact with the water for 72 hours.
Headlines
80,000 gallons of sewage spills in Blaine, Minnesota. Officials say the old The chlorination system was malfunctioning at the local sewage plant and caused the wastewater to leak.
Residents in Baltimore, Maryland are concerned that sewage leaks are killing local fish at Deep Creek Lake. Approximately 1,000 dead fish have been found floating on the lake and residents are blaming recent wastewater spills.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, the residents of Crawford, Nebraska are receiving $4 million dollars in stimulus grants to get a new wastewater treatment plant.
The town of Palisade, Colorado is receiving a total of $7.8 million dollars to build a new sewer plant. The funds are being provided in a $4 million dollar low interest loan and a $3.8 million dollar grant, both provided by the stimulus package.
Sewer Rate News
Toro, California
Northport, Alabama
Northridgeville, Ohio
St. Louis, Missouri
August 3, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: EPA Fines Five Pennslvania Sewage Plants
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued five separate fines for violations by Pennsylvania sewage treatment facilities across the state. The fines have reportedly been issued because these plants are failing to test water issued by industrial plants.
Headlines
The citizens of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin are furious with the town council after recent sewage backups soaked 700 homes. Residents claim the flooding happened because of the town’s poor sewage system, as these floods are a regular occurrence.
An electrical malfunction caused raw sewage to pour into West Fork Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The problem was spotted after dead fish began floating on the river’s surface.
Heavy rains in Duluth, Minnesota caused a 49,000 gallon mixture of sewage and rainwater to flow into Lake Superior.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, a combination of federal grants and low interest loans amounting to $668,000 dollars is going to help the town of Haledon, New Jersey reline 10,000 feet of sewage pipes.
Sewer Rate News
East Moline, Illinois
Mount Airy, North Carolina
North Ridgeville, Ohio
Poplarville, Mississippi
July 29, 2010
Thursday’s Water News: 2 Billion Gallons of Sewage pours into Milwaukee Lakes and Streams
A massive amount of sewage poured into lakes and streams in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after heavy rains hit the area. It is estimated that 2 billion gallons of sewage spilled during this time. This has been the fourth sewage overflow that the city has seen this year alone.
Headlines
A 14 feet deep, 25 feet long sinkhole has opened up along a St. Louis, Missouri neighborhood. Officials say the street collapsed over a brick sewer line dating back to the 1870′s. An investigation is now underway to see how to properly replace the system.
Heavy rains in Duluth, Minnesota cause sewage overflows in the city. Officials say that more than 5,000 gallons spewed out of the city’s overtaxed stormwater drains in several locations around the city.
A pump failure in Des Moines, Iowa led to sewage overflows amounting to 3,000 gallons. The wastewater flowed directly into the Des Moines River, officials say.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, the town of Patten, Maine is getting 120,000 dollars in federal grants to remove contaminated soil and old gasoline tanks from underneath the town. This will make the water much cleaner and safer to drink for Patten residents.
Sewer Rate News
Indianola, Iowa
Middleboro, Massachusetts
Wellsburg, West Virginia
Port Richey, Florida
July 20, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: Milwaukee Has Its Largest Sewer Overflow of 2010
Rainstorms in Milwaukee this weekend caused 506 million gallons of untreated wastewater to leak into local streams and Lake Michigan. The storm that caused the overflow produced over 5 inches of rain in just over a single day.
Headlines
A six-inch pipe burst in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday. The pipe ruptured in the early afternoon, causing traffic problems.
A sewage spill into Lake Cornelius resulted in a swimming ban being issued by officials in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. A small treatment facility leaked 375 gallons of sewage into a nearby lake in Davidson, North Carolina.
A four-inch water main ruptured in Narberth, Pennsylvania this afternoon leaving residents of an apartment complex without water. The age of the pipe is the suspected cause of the break.
Stimulus Spotlight
Using stimulus funds, the City of San Francisco is issuing $387 Build America Bonds. The interest on these bonds is covered by federal stimulus funds. The city plans to use the proceeds to fund numerous projects including water infrastructure improvement and repair.
Sewer Rate News
Blue Springs, Missouri
Caledonia, Minnesota
Eagle Lake, Florida
Roosevelt, New Jersey
June 15, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: $2.5 Billion Sewage Problem in Kansas City
The outdated wastewater system in Kansas City, Missouri cannot handle much more pressure. After heavy rains Monday, sewage overwhelmed pump stations and flowed directly into local waterways. City officials have been putting off dealing with the issue directly until recently, when federal penalties forced them to agree to a $2.5 billion investment in wastewater infrastructure.
Headlines
Reports of chronic sewage overflows in Greenbackville, Virginia has led state officials to investigate the matter. A local resident has complained that wastewater overflows have been consistently happening on several roads throughout the county and were being exacerbated by recent storms.
Many residents in a suburban Cincinnati community are still dealing with sewage backing up into their homes after heavy rains. The Metropolitan Sewer District is slow to help the citizens with the clean-up, as they are underfunded and overworked.
Heavy rains in North Platte, Nebraska have overwhelmed its sewer system. Citizens have been advised to limit their water usage to ease the wastewater pressure. City officials claim that the water is not contaminated.
Stimulus Spotlight
Almost $7 million in state and federal money is going to help the residents of Superior, Wisconsin build new sewage and stormwater systems in their town. Half of that money was provided by the stimulus package, the other half by the state.
More than $2 million dollars in stimulus funds has been granted to Minneapolis, Minnesota to help build a smart grid water usage system. The grid is expected to save the city $1.7 million a year.
There is a new sewage treatment plant being built in Snow Hill, North Carolina. The stimulus package is funding $3.7 million in grants toward the facility.
Sewer Rate News
Tucson, Arizona
Seattle, Washington
Vermilion, Pennsylvania
Williamsport, Maryland
May 3, 2010
Monday’s Water News: 2 Million Massachusetts Residents Without Water After Main Rupture
2 million residents of Boston and 29 of its most populous suburbs, whose clean-water supply was cut off by a catastrophic rupture of a water main break on Saturday, remained without clean tap water for a second day yesterday. The break was so bad that Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency.
State officials have urged residents to take seriously an order to boil all water used for drinking and cooking. The leak was reported Saturday morning in the town of Weston, 10 miles west of Boston. At the height of the breach, the pipe was leaking water into the nearby Charles River at a rate of 8 million gallons per hour.
Headlines
A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would remove state volume caps on private activity bonds for water and wastewater infrastructure projects. The Sustainable Water Infrastructure Act (S. 3262) is the companion bill to H.R. 537 which was passed in the House in March as part of the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act (H.R. 4849).
Construction is expected to begin soon on a wastewater treatment plant in Glennwood Springs, Colorado with the completion date expected for the spring of 2012.
Stimulus Spotlight
The city of Ogdensburg, New York has started the $1.17 million overhaul of a wastewater plant that when completed will save 40 percent of annual energy costs. The project is being funded in part by $1 million in economic stimulus money administered through the state’s Green Innovation program.
Thanks to the economic stimulus, construction of the first phase of a Roseau, Minnesota, flood control diversion channel will begin this year after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract for the work.
Sewer Rate News
Chesterton, Indiana
Forrest, Illinois
Grand Ledge, Michigan
North Muskegon, Michigan
April 20, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: Arkansas Community Seeks $25M Loan for Water Projects
In Jacksonville, Arkansas, the City Council supports a plan by the water department to secure $25 million in loan funds from the state’s National Resources Commission to pay for four major capital improvement projects. The projects will include adding new water lines and replacement of a ground water storage tank.
Headlines
Work has begun on a new wastewater treatment plant for Sweetwater, Tennessee. The city will finance the project with a $6.5 million bond that it will pay back over the next 20 years.
A broken water main break in a Las Cruces, New Mexico caused a gas line to leak this morning.
Minnesota’s Public Facilities Authority will provide $12.3 million in financing to seven cities for drinking water and waste water improvements.
Stimulus Spotlight
In Loveland, Colorado, the Bureau of Reclamation has received $12.2 million from the economic stimulus to recoat the penstocks above the Flatiron Power Plant. The penstocks are large pipes that carry water from a reservoir to a nearby power plant behind a lake which provides water and power in northeastern Colorado.
Despite the inconvenience for some Galion, Ohio residents, construction of two pump stations and a main line to the wastewater treatment plant should be completed in August. Part of the $5.3 million project will be funded via $3.4 million in economic stimulus funds.
Sewer Rate News
Belgrade, Montana
Cadillac, Michigan
Charleston, Illinois
Spring Hill, Tennessee
April 1, 2010
Thursday’s Water News: Sewer Overflow in Cedar Falls, Iowa
Residents are being asked to avoid the site of a sanitary sewer overflow in Cedar Falls, Iowa. City crews Tuesday discovered a plugged sanitary sewer line and wastewater was overflowing from a manhole into a drainage ditch. The sewer line was dug up, a broken pipe repaired and the area sprayed with a disinfectant.
Headlines
A boil water advisory has been issued for 138 Sarasota County Utilities customers and Park Isles Plaza businesses in The Inlets area of Nokomis, Florida. Repairs are being made to an 8-inch water main break.
The muddy Mississippi River becomes darkened with more than sludge in times of high water when sewage flows back into the river. Sewage in Illinois from Alton, Grafton and Chautauqua’s systems seems to be running back into the river during times of high water.
Stimulus Spotlight
Crews will install new water mains in Hinsdale, Illinois. This work reduces stormwater flows into Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District as part of an agreement with the village to begin separating the sanitary and storm water mains. The project costs $2.3 million, of which $1.62 million will be funded by federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Louisville, Kentucky has received over $4 million in economic stimulus funds for needed improvements to its drinking water system and expand service throughout the region.
Sewer Rate News
Allen County, Indiana
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Hugo, Minnesota
Patterson, California
March 17, 2010
Wednesday’s Water News: U.S. Mayors Say Billions Needed for Water Infrastructure
A new report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors finds that water and sewer rates for American households will double to quadruple over the next 20 years. The report forecasts future spending for public water and wastewater systems will range between $2.5 and $4.8 trillion over the next 20 year period 2009 to 2028. Over the last 53 years, local governments have invested $1.6 trillion.
Headlines
The City of Pipestone, Minnesota has spent $7.5 million over the past decade to repair and replace water and wastewater infrastructure, trying to stanch the flow of excess water getting into the wastewater treatment system through inflow and infiltration.
Some Orange, New Jersey residents have been asked to boil their water after one of townships 100-year-old water mains broke today, posing possible health risks.
Stimulus Spotlight
Among the approximately $50 million Oklahoma City received in economic stimulus money, $4 million has been allocated for sewer and water main construction and replacement.
Thanks to the economic stimulus, a project in Hanford, Washington is building a larger “pump and treat system” that will pump water out of the ground, remove hexavalent chromium and then reinject the clean water into the ground.
Sewer Rate News
Burton, Ohio
Crossville, Tennessee
Red Bank, New Jersey
