Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Services Division
 
For Immediate Release                                                                
June 25, 2008
 
CEDAR RAPIDS MAKES PROGRESS ON WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT; BRINGS IN DIVERS TO ASSIST
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Sanfilippo, DNR Manchester field office, at (563) 927-2640 or [log in to unmask] 
 
CEDAR RAPIDS — As waters recede, the City of Cedar Rapids is continuing its work to bring its wastewater treatment plant back into operation. That includes bringing in divers to get a pumping station working again.
 
Divers will be disconnecting a gate around a major pumping station, which will allow a crane to remove the gate. Workers then will be able to remove damaged pumps from the station for repair. The gate is located at the bottom of a 40-foot well where sewage comes into the treatment plant. Repairing the pumping station will allow the city to locate other problems in the collection system.
 
“The city is making great progress in bringing their treatment system back online, but it’s not something that can happen overnight after a flood as destructive as this,” said Joe Sanfilippo, head of the DNR’s Manchester field office. “Because of that, people should avoid the Cedar River and anywhere sewage water is collecting until the treatment plant is up and running again.”
 
For at least the next few weeks, the city will continue to send untreated wastewater to the Cedar River as it works to repair its plant and sewage collection system. Sewage is currently coming through the normal collection system, allowing the city to discharge directly to the river at numerous locations.
 
The DNR has been collecting weekly water samples downstream of the wastewater treatment plant since the week of June 9. Test results have ranged from 2,000 to 5,000 colony-forming units of E. coli bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.
 
“The bacteria levels in the Cedar River have been elevated, but not unlike samples of floodwater we’ve tested from other locations,” said Mary Skopec, who heads the DNR’s water monitoring efforts.
 
The DNR has also given technical guidance for the city throughout the flood and will inspect the wastewater treatment plant before it begins running again.
 
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