07.07.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Main Break Stops Essential Water Use in South Austin (Tx.)
Residents of Austin, Texas were told to stop all essential water use, including outdoor watering, this morning as crews began repairing a 54-inch water main. The water line provides the city with 60% of the drinking water for residents and businesses south of the river and is one of the city’s main water arteries.
Headlines
A pipe burst in a building near Shepard Park Beach in New York caused 10,000 gallons of raw sewage to dump into the Adirondack Lake over the holiday weekend. The Lake George beach was forced to close on one of the busiest weekends for the area. Clean up of the beach is scheduled to begin Tuesday and the beach will be reopened as soon as possible.
The New Jersey Local Finance Board is considering a borough of Buena’s Municipal Utilities Authority project which is a federally financed project that will take 12-15 months to complete. The project has two impacts on the MUA. First, the new system will send treated wastewater into lagoons, where it will percolate into the ground. Wastewater presently is sent into a stream. Second, the authority’s capacity to treat wastewater will increase from 400,000 gallons to 600,000 gallons, enabling more service for residential and commercial uses. That also benefits neighboring Buena Vista Township, which has the right to use one-third of the increase in treatment capacity.
Stimulus Spotlight
Delaware state lawmakers and public officials accepted $19.2 million in federal money to clean up water. Governor Jack Markell said the money will allow the state to employ citizens in “green jobs.”
Sewer Rate News
Laramie, Wyoming
Mount Airy, North Carolina
Middlesex, Massachusetts
06.16.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Dover (N.J.) Residents Without Water After Main Break
A water main break in Dover, New Jersey left about 500 residents in three towns with low pressure or no pressure today. The town administrator speculates it was wear that caused the eight-inch main to crack.
Headlines
In Fort Wayne (IN), a water main break caused a portion of a street to close causing city utility crews to work to repair the break.
Holbrook, Arizona has been given 30 daysto file approximately two years worth of missing reports related to wastewater treatment and disposal. The city was either late or failed to submit reports describing the quality of treated wastewater, mainly used for irrigation.
The Department of Health & Environmental Control in Columbia, South Carolina is investigating another case of sewage overflow in the city. Some of the overflow may have ended up in the Columbia Canal and the Congaree River which still hold warning signs for elevated bacteria levels found earlier this year.
Stimulus Spotlight
The federal government on Monday awarded $185 million in stimulus money to the state of Massachusetts for projects aimed toward improving drinking water and the treatment of wastewater. The money will create new opportunities and jobs but a figure cannot be given as to how many will be created.
Sewer Rate News
Melrose, Massachusetts
Tampa Bay, Florida
Marietta, Ohio
Morgantown, West Virginia
06.10.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Charlotte Water Main Break Causes Sinkhole, Closes Road
Work crews in Charlotte, North Carolina are working to fix a sinkhole after a water pipe burst on Tuesday creating the hole. The sinkhole was discovered when a driver stopped at the intersection thought she had a flat tire only to realize her front tire was in the sinkhole. The road remains closed to traffic.
Headlines
A water main break in Evansville, Indiana shut down a road on the city’s west side, causing water to gush onto the street and disrupting services to several neighboring homes.
In Saginaw, Michigan, more than 9 million gallons of partially treated sewage was discharged to the Saginaw River last week from a combined sewer overflow.
A 12-inch water main break in a Staten Island neighborhood left 100 residents and 30 businesses without water this morning.
Stimulus Spotlight
Camden, New Jersey will receive $13.5 million from the economic stimulus package to repair its water and sewer system. The city’s public works director says Camden could use $50 million for water and sewer upgrades but there’s no money to repay traditional loans in order to complete that work.
The California water districts of Coachella Valley and Mission Springs have received word that $1.3 million will be available to them to fund drinking water projects.
Sewer Rate News
East Dundee, Illinois
Huntington, West Virginia
Newburgh, Indiana
06.01.09
Monday’s Water News: Detroit Cancels CSO Control Project
The giant Upper Rouge Tunnel combined sewer overflow control project was canceled Friday by Detroit city officials worried about residents’ ability to pay increased sewer fees to build the $1.2 billion project.
Headlines
In Washington, a major sewage pipe that ruptured Saturday on Bainbridge Island continued to spill tens of thousands of gallons of raw waste into Eagle Harbor today, and an official said the line can’t be fixed until Tuesday morning.
Many residents in Graniteville, South Carolina are hopeful that Aiken County officials will be able to secure federal funding for an overhaul of the town’s sewer system.
Stimulus Spotlight
Bidders who want a piece of the $270 million the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has set aside for water projects from the economic stimulus have until June 15 to submit their projects for consideration.
Maryland will receive nearly $122 million in federal stimulus funds to help boost the state water infrastructure projects and improve the Chesapeake Bay.
Sewer Rate News
Joplin, Missouri
Litchfield, Illinois
Mansfield, Massachusetts
Newark, Delaware
04.23.09
Thursday Headlines: Senate Bill Introduced to Correct Sewer Overflows
Ohio Senators George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown introduced a bill, the Clean Water Affordability Act of 2009, on Wednesday that would give the EPA more flexibility in dealing with communities with sewer overflow problems and would create a $1.8 billion program over five years to provide federal grants up to 75 percent of a sewer project’s cost. A similar provision in the Water Quality Investment Act (H.R. 1262) passed by the House of Representatives in March includes $2.5 billion in grants over five years for sewer overflow control grants.
Headlines
In Kansas, a project to improve the city of Emporia’s water treatment plant is one of 39 drinking water infrastructure projects in the state selected to receive $360,000 in stimulus help. The money will pay for 20 percent of a $1.8 million project that has been on the city’s capital improvement plan for some time.
A valve malfunction led to a spill of about17,500 gallons of untreated sewage into the Pearl City area of Honolulu. City crews repaired the valve and were able to collect 105,000 gallons of sewage and transfer it back into the treatment system before it entered the harbor.
A large project in Dunwoody, Georgia that will double the size of a waterline bringing raw water from the Chattahoochee River to the reservoirs at a water treatment plant is slowly moving forward.
Sewer Rate News
Chouteau, Oklahoma
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
West Cape May, New Jersey
04.13.09
Monday Headlines: Las Vegas Water Main Break Disrupts Service to 2,000
Water was turned back on to homes and businesses in Las Vegas Friday night after a water main break left almost 2,000 people without water for much of the day.
Headlines
In Ohio, a Columbus Department of Public Utilities Report notes several accomplishments made last year including removal of two sanitary sewer overflow discharge locations.
A sewer-replacement project that starts today in Danville, Illinois should prevent water from backing up into residents homes during heavy rains.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture has closed commercial oyster harvesting in Coos Bay following a Thursday morning sewage spill in North Bend that discharged 30,000 gallons of sewage into the bay after debris blocked a pipe causing a backup.
All residents of Ridgefield, New Jersey are being told to boil their water after an early morning main break that caused major disruptions in the community.
Sewer Rate News
Green Valley, West Virginia
Onslow, North Carolina
Westminster, Maryland
04.07.09
Tuesday Headlines: Small City Receives Stimulus Funds for Treatment Plant
Pittsburg, Kansas will get $1.74 million in federal stimulus money for improvements to its water-treatment plant. The funds will cover about 20 percent of the estimated $8.7 million cost of the project.
Headlines
In Michigan, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Services is assisting Oshtemo Township this afternoon with a sewer-main break.
A water main break this morning in Mendham, New Jersey causing one school to send its 250 students home and leaving several homes without water.
The village of Glendale, Ohio has suffered a large water main break leaving some residents with little to no water and those residents who do have water have a cloudy mineral tint to the water.
Due to a broken water main, Tallahassee, Florida has issued a precautionary boil water notice for a small area of the city. The city is asking customers in this area to take precautionary steps before preparing food or using water for drinking purposes.
Sewer Rate News
Charleston, Illinois
Texarkana, Texas
Waukee, Iowa
03.27.09
Friday Headlines: Sewer Main Collapse in Fort Wayne Keeps Road Closed
Following up on a story from Tuesday, officials in Fort Wayne, Indiana say it will take longer than expected to fix a 30-foot deep sinkhole that’s closed a street near the city’s downtown since the weekend. The sinkhole was caused after a 125 year-old brick sewer main collapsed.
Headlines
Residents in Seabrook, New Hampshire will have to pay about $2.5 million less for their new water treatment plant thanks to the federal stimulus money allocated to the town. Construction of the new plant is expected to begin this summer.
Doheny State Beach, in Dana Point, California reopened today following a sewage spill that forced swimmers, surfers and divers out of the ocean Monday.
The state of Washington has received 347 applications totaling $416 million for the $38 million from the economic stimulus devoted to water projects.
The city of Hesperia, California will pay $6 milion for a new sub-regional wastewater facility with the goal is to make the city’s water supplies stretch further for an ever-growing population.
Sewer Rate News
West Cape May, New Jersey
Wilmington, Delaware
Xenia, Ohio
03.23.09
Monday Headlines: Colo. Communities Struggle Maintaining Water Systems
Smaller communities across Colorado are having a difficult time maintaining their drinking water systems and meeting stricter federal requirements for those systems. Despite receiving $32 million in stimulus funds to help finance drinking-water projects, the money is only a down payment on the state’s existing needs. To illustrate this point, requests for state aid to improve water systems have increased from $800 million to $1.3 billion since 2005.
Headlines
Most of the water projects in Allegany County, Maryland will be funded with money from the economic stimulus money. The city of Cumberland will receive $6 million to help upgrade its wastewater treatment plant, and the town of LaVale will receive $1.3 million to rehabilitate an interceptor.
Fulton County, Georgia is likely to have to pay huge fines after spilling almost 1 millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River in the first few months of 2009.
Two to three feet of water flooded streets and caused road closures near Fenway Park in Boston after a water main break ruptured shooting water 25-feet in the air.
A long-awaited sanitary and storm-sewer replacement project designed to alleviate flooding and sewer backups in Moosic, Pennsylvania is now under construction. The project will provide relief to some residents who have experienced flooding and sewer backups for several decades.
Sewer Rate News
Dryden, New York
Sea Isle City, New Jersey
03.12.09
Thursday Headlines: House Passes Bill Authorizing $13.8 Billion for CWSRF
Today the House of Representatives passed the Water Quality Investment Act (H.R. 1262) by a vote of 317-101. The bill authorizes $13.8 billion over the next five years for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), includes $2.5 billion over five years for sewer overflow control grants and requires sewage treatment plants to set up alert systems to notify the public within 24 hours of sewer overflows. Despite the good news, The bill still must be considered by the Senate and Congress has not passed an authorization for the CWSRF since 1994.
Headlines
The state of Michigan will use the $236 million for water and sewer infrastructure improvements it receives from the recently passed economic stimulus bill to reduce the cost of projects for municipalities. The cost of sewer projects will be reduced by 23% and the cost of water projects will be reduced by almost 40%.
A $1 million low-interest loan from Ohio EPA’s Water Pollution Control Loan Fund will help the city of Toledo finance construction to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows and basement backups.
Part of Narragansett Bay is now clean enough for swimming and shellfishing after Providence, Rhode Island fixed it’s combined sewer overflow problem by cutting a five-mile tunnel into the rock under the city capable of holding 60 million gallons of wastewater that otherwise would be released into the Providence River partially treated.
Among the earmarks in the federal spending bill President Barack Obama signed Wednesday were about $1.5 million for upgrades to Lynchburg’s sewer system. The money will go for upgrades to its combined sewer system.
Sewer Rate News
Caroline County, Virginia
San Francisco, California
Santa Maria, California
Toms River, New Jersey
