11.19.08
Wednesday Headlines: 60-inch Water Main Breaks in Central New Jersey
In New Jersey, a break in a 60-inch water main break in Middlesex and Somerset Counties is affecting 100,000 customers and has partially collapsed part of the road above the pipe. A boil-water advisory remains in effect for the nearly 20 Central Jersey towns affected, and customers will be contacted by phone when it is lifted, which is projected to be around noon Thursday. Although the cause of the break is unknown the water main was installed in 1958.
Sewer Rate News
Lansing, Michigan’s long-term endeavor to reduce the flow of raw sewage is 59 percent completed and already seeing significant results. Annually, some 1.65 billion gallons of sewage went into the rivers before the CSO work started. That has been reduced by 585 million gallons a year. The work is not slated to end until 2020.
Astoria, Oregon under a federal consent decree, has a 20-year program to prevent sewage from overflowing into the Columbia River and Youngs Bay during heavy rainstorms. The latest project is the first phase of a two-phase CSO project, which will install new pipes to carry stormwater into the bay and construct a giant storage tank for sewage.
Traffic was restricted on a major Mesa, Arizona roadway Tuesday evening after a 12-inch water main leak caused a sinkhole in the road.
Work crews in Kalamazoo, Michigan worked through the night to dig out a couple of water main breaks. There are water main breaks all the time in this city, which is an older system where fluctuating temperatures (a common occurence this time of year) makes the ground heave and pipes burst.
Sewer Rate News
McKinleyville, California
Ranson, West Virginia
Sugarcreek, Ohio
09.24.08
Wednesday Headlines: $843 Mil. Needed to Repair Louisville’s Sewer System
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Louisville, Kentucky says its massive court-imposed plan to rehabilitate the sewer system will cost about 5 percent more than previously estimated. The new estimate of $843 million will pay for repairs to a system that annually spills about 4 billion gallons of sewage into local waterways, such as the Ohio River.
Headlines
In Chicago, a car was damaged after partially falling into a sinkhole created by a water main break. The car, which was parked, fell in after it the ground around it caved. “When the main broke, the water undermined the pavement and soil and created a hole,” said a City Department of Water Management spokesperson.
A quarter of a million people in the Houston region are still without running water nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ike caused extensive damage, Restoring water service may prove complicated. The problem has a myriad causes including severe infrastructure damage in coastal areas.
Sludge and sewage runoff from Bismarck, Missouri’s current treatment plant into a receiving stream has forced the city to move forward with plans for a new wastewater treatment plant or face stiff fines from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Southeastern Michigan has proposed investing $2.4 billion in projects aimed at reducing combined sewer overflows in communities, according to a report released Tuesday by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. The projects, in which about $1 billion is in place now, has resulted in an 85 percent reduction in untreated CSO discharges from 1990 levels, the report said.
Sewer Rate News
Bradenton, Florida
Humble, Texas
Huntington, West Virginia
Riverside, California
08.27.08
Wednesday Headlines: Marin County’s Sewer Woes Continue
In California, signs posted along the Larkspur shoreline warn people to stay out of the water after yet another sewage spill in Marin County. The spill resulted from a burst pipe at the dock through which sewage is pumped from the ferries to the sanitary district. There have been at least a half dozen sewage spills in the North Bay so far in 2008.
Headlines
The city of Lake Ozark, Missouri has pleaded guilty to illegally discharging raw sewage into the Lake of the Ozarks, one of the state’s biggest tourists draws. Mayor Johnnie Franzeskos signed the plea agreement in federal court late Monday, requiring the city to pay a $50,000 fine.
In Wheeling, West Virginia, the city has had its third water main break downtown in a month. Many of the lines in the city are over 100 years old.
Wisconsin State regulators want the city of Appleton’s water utility to make $3 million available to pay for potential fixes to the city’s drinking-water treatment plant. The request by the state Department of Natural Resources is on top of $11 million in work called for in a consultant’s report to address problems with producing drinking water in cold weather.
The Village of Dexter is facing fines of about $25,000 from the Michigan state Department of Environmental Quality for inadequacies in its wastewater treatment plant operation dating back to 2005.
Sewer Rate News
Ansonia, Connecticut
North Attleboro, Massachusetts
Paris, Texas
Williamsburg, Iowa
Ok, I’m taking a few days off. Check back again on Tuesday, September 2.
08.25.08
Monday Headlines: Water Main Break Causes Evacuation at Marshall Univ.
Marshall University’s landmark building was evacuated Saturday afternoon after what was initially reported as an explosion at the Old Main building turned out to be a broken water line. The evacuation occurred in the midst of Marshall’s Welcome Weekend, when students return to campus to begin the fall semester.
Headlines
In Branson, Missouri, raw, untreated sewage spilling from a clean-out pipe at a wastewater treatment facility has tested 1,000 times more potent than the state’s Department of Natural Resources guidelines.
A water main break Saturday evening sent water gushing 30 feet in the air, adding more mud to an already rain soaked neighborhood in Laredo, Texas. (picture courtesy of KGNS)
As city employees in Wheeling, West Virginia work to repair the damage from a waterline break on Saturday, the city’s Public Works Director Russell Jebbia says replacing the pipes to prevent such breaks would be very costly. “It would cost us several millions of dollars to replace all of our old waterlines,” stated Jebbia.
There have been half a dozen breaks in just the past few days in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. a Field Operations Manager with Pennsylvania American Water attributes the breaks to aging pipes, most of them in the area are about 50 years old.
Sewer Rate News
Galveston, Texas
Randolph, Massachusetts
08.08.08
Friday Headlines: Water Main Break Affects Traffic in Wheeling, W.V.
The break of a 20-inch water main in Wheeling, West Virginia will disrupt traffic for this weekend’s Heritage Music BluesFest. City employees said it’s too early to determine when the break will be fixed.
Headlines
A couple is asking the town of Ashland, Massachusetts to pay to prevent sewage from backing up into their home after “big, brown, solid sludge” bubbled up a sink drain and all over their basement floor.
A water main break in Bowling Green, Kentucky reduced traffic on U.S. 31W from four lanes to two.
In Massachusetts, recent heavy rains and an aging drainage pipe created a sinkhole in front of a West Boylston home. The drainage pipe eroded into a semicircle 14 feet beneath the home. It is estimated that it will cost $60,000 to replace the pipe and repair the yard, which is the obligation of the town.
Sewer Rate News
Macomb, Illinois
Sulphur Springs, Texas
08.07.08
Thursday Headlines: Water Main Break Floods a Staten Island Development
In Staten Island, a massive water main break last night flooded streets and caused thousands of dollars in damage, leaving homeowners trying to pick up the pieces. Garages were awash with water and living spaces destroyed after a 12-inch pipe ruptured and sent torrents of water coursing into Aspen Knolls Estates development for more than three hours.
Headlines
Plans for Elkins, West Virginia’s $26 million water treatment plant and distribution system upgrade are on hold until funding is secured. The money will most likely come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utility Service.
Two schools in Tonopah, Arizona were closed a day after classes started because of a water main break.
Nearly half of Furman University’s Campus is without water after the rupture of a 30-inch water line.
In Massachusetts, residents in the towns of Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset have joined forces and hired a consultant to help them fight a pending 21 percent water rate increase.
Sewer Rate News
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Allegan, Michigan
New Albany, Indiana
07.30.08
Wednesday Headlines: Huntington Riverfront Becomes Excavation Site
In Huntington, West Virginia, two collapsed sewer lines have turned a large portion of Harris Riverfront Park into an excavation site. A 42-inch-wide brick sewer line was replaced with a 48-inch wide concrete pipe. The brick line was about 100 years old. Crews now are repairing a 12-inch, cast-iron line that is more than 50 years old.
Headlines
The last of 13 projects is under way in Florence, Alabama to upgrade the city’s sewer system. The last project for Florence will complete its sanitary sewer overflow correction program that began in 2005 and cost approximately $11.5 million.
State Route 71 was closed in Berlin, Connecticut early Wednesday morning because of a water main break. Police believe the break was caused by an old pipe.
About 50 Palm Beach, Florida households had to boil their tap water yesterday following a water main break.
The Village of Glen Carbon, Illinois is in the beginning stages of funding a replacement to a sewer line that leads to the neighboring wastewater treatment plant. The $150,000 in village funding is part of a $450,000 matching grant the Army Corps of Engineers is contributing to the project through the Water Resources Development Act.
Sewer Rate News
Aurora, Ohio
Lehigh Acres, Florida
Whittington, Illinois
07.23.08
Wednesday Headlines: Long Island Water Main Break Floods Streets
In Long Island, a residential street in Woodmere turned into a river after a water main broke, with a sinkhole nearly swallowing a car. Several streets in the area were closed to traffic because of flooding from the water main break.
Headlines
The Ohio EPA is seeking public comments on its draft approval of the city of Columbus’ wet weather management plan. The sewer system in Columbus currently discharges 1.65 billion gallons of sewer overflow in a typical year. Under the new plan, by the year 2025, these overflows would be reduced to 250 million gallons annually.
Water officials estimate Raleigh, North Carolina lost 200,000 gallons of water Wednesday morning after a water main broke in the city’s downtown area. The 12-inch pipe broke sending water gushing out of the ground and flooding a nearby parking deck.
A Gainesville, Georgia environmental specialist doing a routine check of sewer lines and creek inspections discovered a major wastewater spill Tuesday morning. It is estimated the overflow lasted between 48 and 72 hours, where approximately 50,000 gallons of wastewater spilled onto the ground and entered into a tributary of Balus Creek.
On Tuesday, state health officials in Oregon warned people to stay out of the water at Cannon Beach after 85,000 gallons of sewage overflowed from the waste water treatment plant.
Sewer Rate News
Orland, California
Sistersville, West Virginia
Wenatchee, Washington
06.30.08
Monday Headlines: Elkins, W.V. Dedicates Wastewater Treatment Facility
A dedication ceremony and open house Friday, hosted by the city of Elkins, West Virginia at its wastewater treatment facility, allowed residents and visitors to see the $8.5 million upgrade. Said Elkins Mayor, Judy Guye, “We are trying our best to look to the future to improve the infrastructure.”
Headlines
In Exmore, Virginia, the town’s central wastewater treatment system has encountered problems that could hold up municipal plans to attract significant business and development to the burgeoning commercial area on U.S. Route 13.
Here’s another Virginia story, Middletown’s new wastewater treatment plant has been operating for more than a month, and so far town officials are impressed with what they are seeing at the facility.
A two-part project is underway in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, includes building two water filtration plants to filter out the iron and manganese, and replacing water mains to improve the town’s infrastructure and water distribution.
Part of State Route 322 in New Jersey will be closed from June 30 to mid-August to make way for construction on a Borough of Glassboro sewer line.
Sewer Rate News
Larkspur, California
Maui, Hawaii
Salisbury, Maryland
South Plymouth, Massachusetts
06.25.08
Wednesday Headlines: Water Main Break Floods UC-Riverside
Lights were on and classes resumed in all but one University of California-Riverside building Tuesday, one day after a broken water main flooded three buildings and led to power outages in 12 buildings. School officials are concerned about mold from all the water.
Headlines
A large water main break flooded the Carnegie Science Center’s SportsWorks building this afternoon in Pittsburgh, and the building along with its Titanic Artifact Exhibition will be closed tomorrow.
In another Pennsylvania story, water service was cut to about 40 residences in Muhlenberg Township after a 36-inch water main broke near Route 61.
File this under “you can’t make this stuff up,” in Colorado a squirrel zapped by a power line disrupted electricity to an Upper Thompson Sanitation District lift station Sunday morning, causing a 30,000-gallon sewage spill into Lake Estes.
Sewer Rate News
Charleston, West Virginia
Collier, Florida
Romeo, Michigan
