06.17.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Water Main Break Washes Out Road in Monitor Township (Mich.)
A major road in Monitor Township, Michigan will remain closed until some time tomorrow after a break in a 36-inch water main washed out part of the road. It is likely that the age of the main–installed in the 1940’s–was partially responsible for the break.
Headlines
It took Spartanburg (S.C.) Water crews more than 10 hours Monday and Tuesday to clean up more than 94,000 gallons of raw sewage from a small creek.
The city of Essexville, Michigan has reported a combined sewer overflow from its wastewater treatment plant into the Saginaw River.
Stimulus Spotlight
Money from the economic stimulus package continues to reach down to southwest Colorado for infrastructure projects. The latest project to receive funding is in the town of Norwood. where they have been awarded a $540,000 grant to fix its water system.
Sewer tunnels in Cobb and Gwinnett counties are among $91.5 million in water and sewer projects statewide that the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority approved at its board meeting Tuesday. Of the 11 projects, five are at least partially backed by $40.5 million in federal stimulus money
Sewer Rate News
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Vero Beach, Florida
Waterford Township, Michigan
Williamstown, West Virginia
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
06.09.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Columbus, Ohio to Receive Stimulus Money for Sewers
Columbus, Ohio may receive up to $5 million in federal stimulus funds — money that local officials didn’t expect — to help clean up sewer problems. The money will help extend a sewer line along the city’s South Side and fix two sewer lines Downtown.
The city is working under a court-ordered settlement with the Ohio EPA to end such overflows. The estimated $2.5 billion cost to complete the work could triple homeowners’ water bills over the next 40 years.
Headlines
On July 6, crews will begin testing equipment at a $14.2 million Combined Sewer Overflow Station in Chicopee (MA) for the preparation of its opening later that month.
A sewage water overflow has prompted clean-up efforts in Florence County (SC) after an estimated 18,000 gallons of sewage made its way from the pump station to the Middle Swamp.
Stimulus Spotlight
In Indiana, Richmond Sanitary District officials will tackle the first of several court-mandated sewer projects with federal stimulus money. The district recently accepted a bid of $1.741 million for the project.
Missouri will get nearly $8 million in stimulus funding for rural development. The stimulus funding is provided for safe drinking water and improved wastewater treatment systems for rural towns and communities.
Sewer Rate News
Newark, DE
Funkstown, MD
Fredonia, NY
Elsinore Valley, CA
06.03.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Main Break Shoots Water Sky High in Colorado Springs
A water main break this morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado shot water about 100 feet high just before 3:30 a.m. this morning. The force of the water tore a large hole in the street, and scattered rock and gravel in the area.
Headlines
A water main break in Towson, Maryland which flooded much of the area and is still a traffic nuisance. The water caused the road of a major street to buckle and caused Baltimore County Police to close part of the southbound lanes in the area of the break.
Part of a Hilton Head, South Carolina waterway has been closed to swimmers after a blocked sewer line sent nearly 200,000 gallons of sewage gushing out of a manhole and into Battery Creek.
Stimulus Spotlight
Maryland has been awarded nearly $122 million Tuesday from the EPA to fund drinking water projects and improve water quality as part of the federal government’s latest round of stimulus spending.
Today the EPA announced it will give the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority $54.8 million in stimulus funds to help local governments finance improvements to water infrastructure.
Sewer Rate News
Johnson County, Kansas
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Prescott Valley, Arizona
Silverton, Oregon
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
04.20.09
Monday Headlines: Texas Reaching Decision on Stimulus Projects
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is in the process of reviewing approximately 1,000 applications for the state’s $340 million in economic stimulus funds for drinking water and sewer projects. The TWDB is focusing on shovel ready projects that make an immediate impact on the economy.
Headlines
Three Pennsylania communities in the Johnstown Regional System will receive nearly $12 million in loan-interest loans through PENNVEST to meet state mandates to reduce sewer oveflows.
A day before the Bosotn Marathon, some businesses had a mess on their hands on Sunday after a massive water main break flooded the streets.
A massive water main break in Bensalem, Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon caused the road to buckle and left nearly 300 homes without water.
Officials in Niagra Falls presented their plan on Monday for helping a group of residents recover from a ruptured water main that caused extensive damage to homes last month.
Sewer Rate News
Marion, Ohio
Monroe, Louisiana
Williamston, South Carolina
03.19.09
Thursday Headlines: Fines Likely for Georgia Community After Overflow
Water officials in Columbus, Georgia could face stiff fines after more than five inches rain overwhelmed the system causing 1.5 million gallons of sewage to spill into the Chattahoochee River over the weekend.
Headlines
In California, a five-year plan of over $22 million in upgrades is planned for the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District’s sewer system and water treatment facilities, prompting officials to propose annual rate hikes to pay for the improvements.
A sewer line failure resulted in the discharge of untreated sewage in Graniteville, South Carolina today. The public has been advised to avoid contact with waters around and downstream of the overflow.
The state of Texas will receive nearly $342 million from the economic stimulus for improvements and protection of public water supplies.
Iowa Governor Chet Culver has announced that the city of Centerville will receive a federal award of $600,000 to replace its aging and damaged storm sewer system.
Sewer Rate News
Albemarle County, Virginia
Ashland, Oregon
El Dorado, Arkansas
Vernon, Michigan
03.13.09
Friday Headlines: Omnibus Bill to Benefit Water, Sewer Projects
Water and sewer projects in Allegany County, Maryland will benefit from $12.2 million included in the federal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act signed into law on Wednesday.
The bill includes funding for the following water and sewer projects:
• $300,000 to design and construct nutrient removal facilities at the Georges Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.
• $300,000 to construct separate storm water and sewer lines in Cumberland.
• $300,000 to construct separate storm water and sewer lines in Frostburg.
• $300,000 to replace two drinking water transmission lines in Hagerstown.
Headlines
The sewer board in New Albany, Indiana has taken action to start construction started for sewer improvements . Construction for phases two and three of the project will cost a little more than $1.1 million.
Between 20 and 25 homes were without water yesterdayin Andover, Massachusetts after an underground water main break. Several major water main breaks have occurred in town in the last six months.
The city of Laurel, Montana has been approved for a $690,000 low-interest loan to finance improvements to its water treatment system. The city’s treatment system dates to the 1950s, and several components need to be replaced or rebuilt.
Sewer Rate News
Anderson. Indiana
Morristown, Indiana
Tuxedo and Warwick, New York
03.11.09
Wednesday Headlines: Stimulus Helps Towns with Treatment Plant Upgrades
Connecticut state officials announced today that the towns of South Windsor and Stafford are among those in the state that will receive federal and state money for upgrades to their sewer treatment plants.
Headlines
Placer County, California is waiting on a final recommendation to build a regional wastewater pipeline or upgrade a sewer treatment plant until after it has a better idea that it will gain a share of federal economic stimulus funds for the more expensive pipeline project.
In Laredo, Texas, an intersection remains closed after a break in a 20-inch water main break flooded a street and caused major problems for thousands of residents all around the city.
A water main break in Quincy, Massachusetts Tuesday morning left a nursing home and three houses without for more than six hours yesterday.
A sewer district in Chillicothe, Ohio which has received a $250,000 grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission to help offset the cost of sanitary sewer installation is ready to take the project to bid. The grant will help offset the approximately $1 million cost of the project.
Sewer Rate News
Alamosa, Colorado
Central, South Carolina
Detroit, Michigan
02.17.09
Tuesday Headlines: Stimulus a Down Payment on State Infrastructure Needs
Throughout the state of Montana, approximately 100 water and wastewater projects are in need of money to begin construction. Even as the stimulus bill is signed into law many of Montana’s small towns see the economic stimulus bill as just a start in addressing it’s infrastructure needs. Much of the state’s water infrastructure was built in the 1950s and ’60s and now needs to be replaced.
Headlines
In Bay City, Michigan, a sewer overflow last week from a wastewater treatment plant totaled almost 58 million gallons. The discharge was blamed on snow melt and rain that totaled about 1.3 inches.
A blocked sewer line is to blame for the release of raw sewage into the Cayucos Creek. A officer for San Luis Obispo County, California reports a manhole cover overflowed and dumped an unknown amount of sewage into a nearby storm drain.
Some residents in Brewer, Maine did not have water when they woke up this morning due to a massive break in the water main in the area. The 10-inch water main was mangled by the fluctuating recent temperatures.
Fifteen months after the Lisbon, Ohio’s upgraded water treatment plant began operation, the Ohio EPA has lifted the order that required the improvements as the treatment plant is now in compliance with the state’s clean drinking water laws.
Sewer Rate News
Halifax, Virginia
Inman, South Carolina
