07.10.09
Friday’s Water News: Details Revealed on Massive Hampton Roads Water Main Break
Last Thursday, approximately 2 million gallons of water gushed from a pipe in the Hampton’s Road Bridge Tunnel’s fire hydrant supply system, filled underground ducts and eventually caused the complete closure of the westbound tunnel as water pooled in the travel lanes. Today it was revealed water flowed for more than eight hours before the break was identified and traffic was diverted.
Headlines
Officials in Powdersville, South Carolina have broken ground on a new one-million gallon water storage tank in anticipation of future growth. State lawmakers see the project as a tool for economic development in the area.
Residents of a southwest Philadelphia neighborhood woke up at 4:30 a.m. to find water gushing into their homes due to a water main break.
Stimulus Spotlight
The state of Florida will use $11.2 million provided by the EPA from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to repair underground petroleum tanks currently contaminating ground water.
Lansing, Michigan has received $10.5 billion from the economic stimulus to help with the city’s sewer modernization project, but it still needs to spend spend $25 million next year and $283 million over the next 11 as part of the project.
Sewer Rate News
Galion, Ohio
Sussex County, Deleware
Fort Wayne, Indiana
06.11.09
Thursday’s Water News: Tunnel Project to Capture Half of Indy’s Overflows
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has announced that federal officials approved a change to city sewer improvement plans that will more quickly capture billions of gallons of sewage now overflowing into the White River. A $257 million Deep Rock Tunnel Connector project will replace earlier plans to connect the city’s two wastewater treatment plants and will capture more than half of the city’s overflows.
Headlines
Heavy rain caused two sewage spills in Alamance County (N.C.) last week. The city of Graham reported a spill on Friday of approximately 9,000 gallons, while the town of Swepsonville also a reported a spill of 4,800 gallons.
The Richmond, Indiana Sanitary District expects to replace part of its aging sanitary sewer line for almost $1 million less than the original estimate.
Stimulus Spotlight
Several Southern Colorado water projects have a good shot at receiving federal stimulus money due to the recent ranking by state water quality regulators.
Water districts in the Kansas counties of Osage and Pottawatomie will receive a total of $5.4 million in federal stimulus funds to install and replace water lines and build new water storage tanks.
Sewer Rate News
Bandon, Oregon
Rochester, New Hampshire
San Luis Obispo, California
Willards, Maryland
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
06.05.09
Friday’s Water News: Millbrae, Calif. to Replace Wastewater Treatment Plant
In California, the city of Millbrae and its over 50-year-old wastewater treatment plant will get a much needed makeover after the city inked a $34 million contract with the California Water Resources Control Board to use state revolving fund financing for the project.
Headlines
In Fort Myers Beach, Florida, a water main break closed down San Carlos Boulevard. The main break this morning flooded the road and forced water to be shut down in about 80 homes.
Raw sewage has flowed into Overton creek (TX) for the 3rd time in four years. On a piece of land more than 400 feet long by 75 feet wide raw sewage sits about eight inches deep.
Water is overflowing in High Point, North Carolina after a major break in a water main has closed the south and north bound lanes of state Highway 311.
Stimulus Spotlight
Rockford, Illinois will be using $7 million in federal economic stimulus funds to complete “some badly needed” water infrastructure projects
$130 million will be awarded to 22 communities throughout New York for the construction of water treatment plants and the installation of sewer system upgrades. The projects are estimated to create 1,300 jobs across the state in many areas that have been affected severely by the current recession.
Sewer Rate News
Ogden, Utah
Rockford, Michigan
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
06.04.09
Thursday’s Water News: Massive Water Main Break in Norfolk
A major thoroughfare in Norfolk, Virginia was reopened this morning after a break in a 30-inch water main flooded the nearby railroad underpass in 6 feet of water Wednesday evening.
Headlines
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is looking for public input on two sewer projects proposed by the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, one to serve the city’s growing northeast side and the other to shore up a deteriorating pipe.
Water quickly rushed down a road in the eastside of El Paso, Texas early this morning after a rupture in a 8-inch water main
Stimulus Spotlight
In New York, three Capital Region counties will receive $20.5 million of federal stimulus funding to build water treatment facilities or upgrade sewer systems.
Seven storm-water projects in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri will receive nearly $3.1 million combined from the recently passed economic stimulus legislation.
Sewer Rate News
Fontana, California
Granby, Massachusetts
Mount Vernon-Lisbon, Iowa
05.14.09
Thursday’s Water News: EPW Passes SRF Authorization
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works today passed the Water Infrastructure Financing Act (S. 1005) which would authorize $20 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $14.7 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund over the next five years. The legislation also includes $1.8 billion included for sewer overflow control grants and $1.43 billion in grants for critical drinking water infrastructure projects.
A similar bill, H.R. 1262, passed the House in March but only authorizes funding for the Clean Water SRF and not the Drinking Water SRF. The legislation must now be voted on by the full Senate and pass before going to conference. The Clean Water SRF and Drinking Water SRF have not been reauthorized in 22 years and 13 years, respectively.
Headlines
In Kentucky, about 20,000 Louisville Water Company customers have been put under a boil-water advisory after a 60-inch main broke Wednesday morning.
In Pittsburgh, a break yesterday in a 8-inch water main caused an 18-inch sewer to collapse causing a 25 feet wide and 15 feet deep in the middle of the road.
Stimulus Spotlight
The town of Boones Mill, Virginia will receive $3.3 million in stimulus money from the state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund which will fund a new filtration plant, electric water meters and replacement of waterlines.
Sewer Rate News
Agawam, Massachusetts
Joplin, Missouri
05.05.09
Tuesday Headlines: Alabama Considers Help for Jefferson Cty. Sewer Debt
A push is on to get state lawmakers in Alabama to consider using excess money from Jefferson County’s one-cent sales tax for schools to pay for the county’s massive sewer debt.
Headlines
A ruptured sewer line pumping raw wastewater into a creek in northwest Davenport, Iowa was under repair today by public works crews. As a precaution, chlorine is being added three times rather than the usual two times during treatment. In addition, chlorine is being added at the inflow pipe.
Newton, Iowa is exploring its options to correct sewer backups occurring in a neighborhood during heavy rains. Last year, the city hired an engineering firm to update its wastewater Facility Plan Update. In its study the engineering firm indicated that the sewer system in the affected area did not have adequate capacity to handle peak flow during heavy rain storms.
A water main that sprang a leak early Monday morning along Route 42 in Dayton, Virginia has been repaired.
Stimulus Spotlight
The town of Stanley, Pennsylvania will receive $100,000 in federal economic stimulus funds to control inflow and infiltration problems with the sewer system.
Sewer Rate News
Crown Point, Indiana
Newton, Massachusetts
Washington County, Maryland
04.29.09
Wedesnday Headlines: Another Major Water Main Break in the Baltimore Area
A water main break in Halethorpe, Maryland this morning forced six area schools to close, halted MARC and Amtrak train services up and down the Penn Line and affected the water supply in Baltimore and Howard counties.
Headlines
Steady rains and water-logged ground have caused sewage spills in three separate parts of Genesee County, Michigan dumping more than 6 million gallons of diluted sewage overflow into the Flint River.
The faucets are running again for people in Lake Monticello, Virginia after a water main break left homes without water Wednesday morning.
Stimulus Spotlight
Water and wastewater projects in New Mexico soon will be receiving $43.2 million in federal stimulus funds. The money is coming from the USDA’s Rural Development Water and Environmental Programs (WEP) to provide water and wastewater infrastructure funding for rural communities.
Both West Virginia and Virginia are also getting millions in federal stimulus money from the USDA’s WEP to help rural communities provide safe drinking water and improve wastewater treatment systems. West Virginia is receiving $65 million to help 20 communities and Virginia is receiving $11 million to help four communities.
Sewer Rate News
Avon Park, Florida
Mount Washington, Kentucky
Plymouth, Massachusetts
04.15.09
Wednesday Headlines: Niagra Falls Residents Angry with City After Break
A water main break that occured several weeks ago in Niagra Falls, New York left behind 12 million gallons of water, thousands of dollars in damage to some homes, and now homeowners are calling on the city to pay up.
Headlines
Needed upgrades and expansions to parts of the Poplarville, Mississippi’s water system may be coming out of the federal stimulus package. If approved, the city would receive have 25 percent of the cost of the project paid for, leaving approximately $827,488 the city would have to finance and repay in 20 years.
A buildup of grease caused a manhole to overflow with up to 6,000 gallons of untreated wastewater earlier today in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Approximately 600 residents in Bullitt County, North Carolina have had water service restored after and a boil advisory lifted after following a water main break yesterday.
A water main break yesterday has closed a major street in Colorado Springs, Colorado until Thursday after water got under the asphalt causing the road to buckle.
Sewer Rate News
Hailey, Idaho
Hopewell, Virginia
Worthington, Indiana
04.02.09
Thursday Headlines: Allegheny County Needs $21 Billiion for System Upgrades
In Pennsylvania, an audit of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (Alcosan) released this morning estimates the authority might need as much as $21 billion to comply with a federal order to upgrade its storm water and sewer management system. Below is an eye popping quote from the story.
…the authority’s funding troubles may lead to as much as a $3,104 annual rate increase for ratepayers in the Alcosan system if the authority doesn’t receive any outside funding to help pay for its system-wide upgrade, slated to start in about five years. Businesses served by Alcosan, they added, could see a rate increase anywhere between $3,000 and $25,000 annually…
Headlines
The City Council in New Bedford, Massachusetts has voted to recommend borrowing $19.3 million to fund the removal of almost 6,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated grit from the city’s primary sewer pipe. Removing the grit will increase the sewer main’s capacity thereby reducing the likelihood of overflows.
Rising water is overwhelming the storm drain system in Arlington, Georgia. The recent heavy rain has about ten thousands of gallons per day flowing out of the sewers there.
A precautionary boil water advisory remains in effect in Marion, Ohio after a break in a 20-inch water main on Wednesday morning reduced pressure.
Motorists driving in Durham, North Carolina will continue to be rerouted while city crews repair breaks in two parallel water lines. Repair work is dependent on weather conditions, which may delay the repairs for several days.
Sewer Rate News
Hampshire, Illinois
Lake Oswego, Oregon
New Windsor, Maryland
Suffolk, Virginia
