06.08.09
Monday’s Water News: Water Main Break Disrupts Service to Half of City in Vermont
Public works crews in Barre, Vermont continue emergency repairs on a water main break that has left thousands without water. A dispatcher in the city’s emergency services center estimated more than half the city was without water.
Headlines
People in Georgetown, Minnesota were without water most of Monday after a water main break forced the town to shut off its water.
Concerns over raw sewage in the water closed the beach at Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Stimulus Spotlight
Several Illinois communities will receive over $10 million in total for water projects funded from the economic stimulus package.
In South Dakota, the Fall River Water Users District has received $612,000 in federal stimulus money toward completing its pipeline to the Buffalo Gap area that will provide water to over 70 customers in the water district.
Sewer Rate News
Elkton, Virginia
Orange County, North Carolina
Prescott Valley, Arizona
04.27.09
Monday Headlines: East Boston Water Main Break Detours Traffic
A break in a 12-inch water main in East Boston near the entrance to the Sumner Tunnel forced a detour, created a sinkhole, left parts of nearby streets under 5 inches of water and forced the evacuation of two apartment buildings.
Headlines
In Florida, a water main break on Central Florida Parkway in Orange County diverted traffic to a local hospital. Firefighters say they responded to a report of a large water main break, which was causing flooding on the main road.
A $43 million project in North Palm Beach County, Florida is underway to meet stricter standards for drinking water. Upon completion, 80,000 customers will no longer have a yellow tint in their drinking water caused by the current lime-softening plant.
Water officials have nearly doubled the chlorine levels at a treatment plant in Bloomfield, Connecticut and plan marathon testing in response to last week’s outbreak of microorganisms in metro Hartford’s public water supply.
Stimulus Spotlight
It’s a new segment on Water News Update called “Stimulus Spotlight.” Today, three cities in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad are among the first in the state to receive federal stimulus funding for wastewater and stormwater projects. Each project will receive a loan for the project, half of which will go toward principal forgiveness (making it a direct subsidy) and the other as a zero percent interest loan.
Sewer Rate News
Minnetonka, Minnesota
Tivoli, New York
04.22.09
Wednesday Headlines: Water Main Break Floods Children’s Medical Center
Children’s Medical Center of Dallas was forced to turn away patients Wednesday morning as it dealt with water problems from a water main break that flooded the ground floor of the building.
Headlines
Five communities in Northwest Indiana will see more than $3.4 million in grant money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve their wastewater and drinking water systems.
A partial blockage in a sewer line in Duluth, Minnesota caused a sanitary sewer overflow of 4,500 gallons on Tuesday. Residents should avoid contact with any sewer overflow due to the potential for exposure to disease-causing organisms.
An intersection in Tuscon, Arizona was closed after one of the cities four water lines broke causing a very large water outage.
The Utility Service Board in the town of Chesterton, Indiana has agreed to put a $4 million bond issue on the ballot to finance an ambitious package of wastewater infrastructure projects.
Sewer Rate News
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Memphis, Tennessee
Tulsa, Oklahoma
04.03.09
Friday Headlines: Duluth Reaches Final Agreement to Fix Sewer Overflows
Duluth, Minnesota has entered into a final agreement with the EPA and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on a consent decree to implement a long-term plan to fix the city’s sewer overflow problem by 2016. The total cost of the plan is estimated at $161 million.
Headlines
A cracked stormwater line about 45 feet underground is the likely cause of a large sinkhole n the parking lot of a government building in Wausau, Wisconsin. Crews must inspect wastewater lines to find and repair cracks before refilling the hole.
In Macon, Georgia, recent heavy rains have caused approximately 65,000 gallons of sewage to spill into a nearby creek near the Ocmulgee River.
The General Manager of Washingtonm, D.C.’s Water and Sewer Authority will resign this summer after 12 years. A move aimed at restoring public confidence following the discovery of excessive lead in the city’s tap water five years ago.
The city of Middletown, New York will receive $27.8 million from the economic stimulus package to fund a wastewater project begun in mid-February.
Sewer Rate News
Augusta Township, Michigan
Duncansville, Pennsylvania
Staten Island, New York
02.11.09
Wednesday Headlines: EPA Sues Akron for Violations
EPA has sued the city of Akron, Ohio seeking millions of dollarsin fines alleging its sewer system has violated federal law for years by dumping excessive pollutants into local rivers. EPA wants to force the city to spend money on improvements to its wastewater treatment system in order to comply with the Clean Water Act and could also seek fines that could climb into several million dollars.
Headlines
Sewer work tops the Peoria, Illinois’ economic stimulus priority list, which includes $12 million to fix the first part of the city’s massive combined sewer overflow project, which still needs approval from EPA.
A hospital in Evansville, Indiana is without its principal water supply after a city water main break. The hospital remained open but surgeries have been canceled and bottled water is being distributed to its 350 patients.
In Washington County, Oregon, a broken main sent water gushing onto State Route 217 this morning, reducing traffic to a single lane in each direction and turning the heavily traveled freeway into an icy mess.
Officials in Ada Township, Michigan say a 16 inch sewer line ruptured, sending “sewer material” into a nearby pond and creek.
Sewer Rate News
Clarendon County, South Carolina
San Andreas, California
Waupun, Wisconsin
Zimmerman, Minnesota
02.06.09
Friday Headlines: City Declares Emergency After 42 Water Main Breaks
The Mayor of Warren, Michigan declared an emergency Thursday after 42 water mains broke this week, leaving city crews struggling to make repairs. The emergency declaration allows will allow the city to hire outside crews without the city council approval to fix the gushing breaks. The Mayor believes the cold weather is putting pressure on aging, decaying infrastructure causing the breaks.
Headlines
The Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania has compiled a list of 44 ready-to-go projects at a cost of $262 million in response to the pending economic stimulus legislation in Congress. The most expensive project proposed for funding is $70 million for the construction of an underground storage facility for overflow sewage.
A water main break Thursday afternoon in El Paso, Texas disrupted water service to some residents for eight hours, washing away plants and flooding front yards.
About 600 water customers in Marion, Ohio are under a boil water advisory after a 12-inch water main broke Wednesday evening. Under a boil advisory, water should be boiled for at least five minutes before drinking and cooking, or being used for oral hygiene.
A broken sewer line caused roads in Peoria, Arizona to close Friday morning. The break forced the closure of a busy intersection but fortunately caused no injuries.
Sewer Rate News
Brownstown Township, Michigan
Ely City, Minnesota
Willmar, Minnesota
01.19.09
Monday Headlines: 90,000 Residents Without Water Service After Mains Break
At least 90,000 people in parts of Prince George’s County, Maryland were without water on Saturday as more than 20 water main breaks affected the area. Officials blame freezing weather and aging infrastructure for the breaks, which snarled traffic and bogged down emergency crews days before the presidential inauguration.
Headlines
An SUV fell into a giant sinkhole caused by a water main break which knocked out water pressure for a large portion of Winthrop, Massachusetts on Saturday. (picture courtesy of WHDH-TV)
In Paw Paw, Michigan, emergency 911 telephone service in Allegan and Van Buren counties had to be re-routed to neighboring dispatch centers Sunday after a water-main break affected equipment at a local Verizon office.
Police and firefighters were called out to a senior citizen apartment building in Philadelphia Sunday morning after a 4-inch water pipe broke in the basement of the building.
Around 1,500 customers of the Birmingham, Alabama Water Works were without water Saturday afternoon after an eight-inch water main break.
Sewer Rate News
Brooklyn, Indiana
Colonial Beach, Virginia
Forsyth County, Georgia
01.08.09
Thursday Headlines: Md. Water Main Break Leads to Calls for More Oversight
The big water main break last month in Bethesda, Maryland has renewed calls from state legislators to improve oversight of the utility that serves Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, opposes the idea contending the bill would put county businesses at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring counties in Maryland.
Headlines
Untreated sewage flowed out of a sewer manhole in Pismo Beach, California, closed part of Shell Beach. Grease collecting in the sewer line is blamed for plugging the line and causing the sewage to overflow out of the manhole.
In California, East Bay Municipal Utility District crews, with help from the city of Berkeley and Caltrans, worked Wednesday to repair a sinkhole caused by a water-main break near California State Highway 13.
Several intersections in a Duluth, Minnesota neighborhood were blocked off Wednesday evening after a water main break. Some people had to scrape their cars of the ice formed on their cars parked along the street.
A busted water main closed the high school in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on Tuesday. The affected water main looked like it had been sheared right in half.
Sewer Rate News
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Dunkirk, Ohio
Merrimack, New Hampshire
Norwalk, Ohio
12.18.08
Thursday Headlines: Broken Water Main in Cleveland, Ohio Installed in 1897
We’re now in day 2 of the massive water main break affecting water service in Cleveland, Ohio. Today The Plain Dealer pens a story detailing the city’s crumbling water and wastewater infrastructure. The break in the 42-inch main was put into the ground in 1897. Read the whole article but here are the first two paragraphs from The Plain Dealer story.
The perils of an aging water system struck Cleveland twice Wednesday, first when a 42-inch water main burst in the morning, cutting off water to much of the city, and again in the afternoon, when a drop in pressure temporarily left firefighters without water to fight a blaze in a downtown office tower.
The incidents underscored the sorry state of Cleveland’s deteriorating infrastructure. Massive water-main breaks are at least an annual event for a system largely built at the end of the 1800s.
12.17.08
Wednesday Headlines: Major Main Break Causes Disruptions in Cleveland
A 42-inch water main rupture around 7:30am this morning in Cleveland, is flooding streets and drying up taps for miles. The break has trapped at least three people in nearby warehouses while leaving several businesses, homes and the Cleveland Clinic without water.
Headlines
Michigan communities should start a wish list of improvements to infrastructure such as sewage disposal and water systems which could be ready to go in a few months, if a state engineering firm’s government sources are correct. A stimulus package, if approved by Congress, would favor projects ready to start construction in 4-6 months and provide needed investment to states and communities.
The large volume of rain in the Macon, Georgia area on Thursday and Friday of last week led to a variety of sewage spills all across Bibb County. There were 13 sewer overflows over the two day period which was caused by 5.07 inches of rain.
Approximately 20,000 gallons of water gushed from an 8-inch broken main flooding part of downtown San Anselmo, California. The 1940s-era pipe was scheduled to be replaced this past summer at night to keep busy San Anselmo Avenue clear during the day. But neighbors voiced concern that noise from the project during summer nights, when windows are left open, would be intrusive, so the water district delayed work until spring 2009.
An underground water main break created a sinkhole that briefly captured the front end of a pick-up truck Tuesday morning in Danbury, Connecticut. The driver was not injured and the truck sustained only minor damage.
Sewer Rate News
Jacksboro, Texas
Juneau, Alaska
Sharon, Pennsylvania
Waseca, Minnesota
