12.01.08
Monday Headlines: City of San Francisco Begins Payouts for Sewage Damage
Nearly five years after San Francisco experienced a storm that overwhelmed its aging sewer system, the city is beginning to pay out millions of dollars in settlements to businesses and homeowners. Businesses affected by the overflow will receive $612,000 from the city of San Francisco. The businesses were inundated by raw sewage in 2004, when stormwater caused it to overflow.
The story from the The San Francisco Examiner goes into further detail.
More than 1,000 miles of brick sewers, many built more than a century ago, carry flushed waste from bathrooms and sinks beneath the surface to treatment plants. The sewers also fill with stormwater during rainstorms, which can overwhelm the system and cause it to overflow.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year that The City is liable for property damage caused by the toxic sewage that brimmed out of the combined system in 2004.
10.22.08
Wednesday Headlines: Illinois City Works on Wastewater Plant Plans
The wastewater treatment facilities in South Beloit, Illinois are working beyond their intended capacities and commissioners say a new plant is a necessity. The system was designed to handle 3 million gallons but is currently processing 3.5 million gallons a day. This summer, the city ran more than 8 million gallons per day as the Rock River waters rose and ground levels increased because of land saturation.
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A water main break in Fenton, Michigan Saturday afternoon caused some flooding and the loss of nearly a million gallons of water. The city lost between 800,000 and 900,000 gallons of water before the main could be shut down.
The water is back on in downtown San Luis Obispo, California after city employees worked tirelessly to fix a water main break. A surge in the system caused a main to rupture and led to ruptures on several other adjacent streets.
Officials in Cape Charles, Virginia are simultaneously pursuing solutions to growing water and wastewater needs to meet future demand and a state-imposed deadline for a new treatment plant that lessens the impact to the Chesapeake Bay.
Representatives of rural water systems including a regional water project for north-central Montana stopped in the city of Havre to tell local elected officials and state legislative candidates about the need to increase funding for those projects.
Sewer Rate News
Missoula, Montana
Wenatchee, Washington
09.23.08
Tuesday Headlines: Pennsylvania Voters Asked to Approve Borrowing $400m to Upgrade Water, Sewer systems
When voters in Pennsylvania go to the polls on November 4, there will be a referendum on the ballot asking them to approve $400 million in debt to help upgrade the state’s water and sewer systems. Municipal authorities with problems involving water and sewer infrastructure, stormwater issues, flood control or high-hazard dams would be eligible to receive funding.
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in Chicopee, Massachusetts, about a dozen residents with flooded basements from continued sewer overflow problems have asked the city for help. Combined storm water and sewer lines that need to be separated are the primary cause of the overflows.
A 30-inch water main break in Tampa, Florida forced the city to close a section of North 22nd Street on Monday. Repairs to the pipe are underway but the road resurfacing won’t be completed until Wednesday. The city is asking drivers to seek alternate routes until restoration is completed.
A delegation from the City of Laurel, Mississippi is scheduled to meet with Governor Haley Barbour’s staff today to discuss the city’s aging water and sewer line problems. Earlier this year city officials met in Washington, D.C. with members of the Mississippi congressional delegation about the need for federal assistance in addressing the nation’s water infrastructure.
Mayor of Milwaukee Tom Barrett has sent a letter to Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk expressing concern over the massive sewer overflows caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago estimates that as much as 99 billion gallons of water was untreated during the heavy rains two weekends ago.
Sewer Rate News
DuBois, Pennsylvania
Helena, Montana
Saint Joseph, Michigan
09.11.08
Thursday Headlines: San Diego Counties Fined $1 Million for Sewage Spill
Two San Diego County cities have been fined more than $1 million for last year’s 7.3 million-gallon sewage spill into Buena Vista Lagoon. Some 1,700 fish were killed when the 25-year-old sewer pipe ruptured. Vista will pay $981,000 because the city owns most of the pipe, Carlsbad will pay the rest.
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The Washington Post’s “Capital Weather Blog” notes that in many Washington, D.C. neighborhoods it takes only one tenth of an inch of rain to cause a combined sewer overflow. Ann Posegate notes, “a storm can be so exciting until you think of its human and environmental consequences.”
A Belvedere, California neighborhood was flooded Wednesday night when about 30,000 gallons of water escaped from a broken water main. One house was flooded and four garages sustained water damage.
A water main break in Boonton, New Jersey yesterday led authorities to issue a boil-water alert for residents west of the town’s railroad tracks.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, most of the downtown area was without air conditioning and functional plumbing after a water main burst at the bottom of the New River .
Sewer Rate News
Choteau, Montana
Marana, Arizona
New Summerfield, Texas
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
08.12.08
Tuesday Headlines: Year-Long Water Main Break Irks Flint, Mich. Residents
In Michigan, a year-long water main break has angered residents on Flint’s north side. The water main has been leaking for more than a year forcing cars to dodge barriers. The city is working on a plan to repair it but will cost at least $60,000.
Headlines
Residents in Lynchburg, Virginia will have to adjust to traffic delays the next few weeks because of a massive citywide combined sewer overflow project.
A water main break early this morning in Chester County, Pennsylvania gave motorists on Route 202 a major headache during this morning’s rush hour.
Several Billings, Montana streets filled with water Monday morning after a water main burst downtown. The broken water main was 70 years old and had signs of corrosion.
In Kermit, Texas, a new state mandated $4.5 Million water treatment plant is doubling the monthly water bill but the city says the plant is unnecessary.
Sewer Rate News
Chesterton, Indiana
Westminster, Maryland
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
07.02.08
Wednesday Headlines: Ohio EPA Forces City to Separate Stormwater, Wastewater Systems
Fremont is one of several cities in the Buckeye State with combined stormwater and sewer water systems. The federal and state EPAs also are requiring Fremont to get rid of its 13 stormwater overflow valves in a project that will cost the city an estimated $67 million over the next 20 years. (Pictured Right, Downtown Fremont, Ohio)
Headlines
Here’s another Ohio story. Last week, storms flooded some Columbus-area residents houses with water and ingredients for salad dressing. Storm water combined with sewage from the T. Marzetti Co., a producer of salad dressings, to overwhelm the Columbus storm-sewer system flooding at least 10 nearby homes.
In York, Maine, a water main break in the basement of Village Elementary School flooded it with more than 2,000 gallons of water. The situation necessitated bringing in the state Department of Environmental Protection, because the water mixed with some oil from the burners in the basement.
Construction has begun in Nashua, New Hampshire to repair a rotted pipe and sinkhole, which will temporarily reroute daytime traffic and take up to two weeks to complete. Heavy rains running in the pipe corroded it, and then material above the pipe washed away, eventually causing the pavement to cave.
Having placed a $500,000 appropriation for Hamilton, Montana’s wastewater treatment plant upgrade into the House Interior Appropriations bill, Congressman Denny Rehberg came to the city Tuesday to visit the plant. Funding for the request would come from the Interior Department’s State and Tribal Assistance Grant program.
Sewer Rate News
Danvers, Massachusetts
Hammond, Louisiana
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Rich Creek, Virginia
Yanceyville, North Carolina
Photo by Flickr user Seth Gaines used under a Creative Commons license
05.02.08
Friday Headlines: MLB Game Delayed by Water Main Break
The start of Wednesday afternoon’s baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets and was delayed delayed 40 minutes because of a water main break.
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South Florida counties and cities will have to stop pumping wastewater into the ocean and reuse most of it instead, under a bill the Florida state legislature passed unanimously.
In Montana, the city of Hamilton has received a $750,000 grant to improve its wastewater treatment system from the Treasure State Endowment Program.
The Frank C. Amerson Jr. Water Treatment Plant–which serves Bibb County, Georgia–recently picked up the Plant of the Year award from the Georgia Association of Water Professionals.
Sewer Rate News
Bethel, Connecticut
Jackson, California
Mount Vernon, Illinois
Orange County, Virginia
04.17.08
Thursday Headlines: SRF Pays for Water Projects in Montana
Loans of $958,160 from the Montana State Revolving Fund have been approved for new water and sewer lines, helping finance another phase of a major public health improvement effort on the southern fringe of Great Falls.
Headlines
In Alabama, the Jefferson County Commission may have to ask Governor Bob Riley to call a special session of the Legislature to help the county complete a plan for paying its sewer debt.
Sutter County, California and its two citieshave reasons for looking into combining wastewater treatment efforts.
Water Infrastructure Finance Authority has approved a low-interest $8.5 million loan to Flagstaff, Arizona to drill and equip four new wells to help meet the drinking water needs of the city’s nearly 60,000 residents.
The Moriarty, New Mexico City Council heard several options for a loan-grant program to build, repair and improve public water and waste collection and treatment systems through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.
