Iowa Department of Natural Resources Environmental Services Division For Immediate Release April 25, 2007 RAINS OVERWHELM WASTEWATER SYSTEMS ACROSS IOWA MEDIA CONTACT: Dennis Ostwinkle at (319) 653-2135 or Barb Lynch at (712) 260-1728. DES MOINES - Another band of heavy rainfall across the state Tuesday and Wednesday has resulted in wastewater bypasses. When wastewater treatment facilities are "bypassed," sewage is not treated before it is sent directly into a body of water. Bypasses can occur as a result of mechanical failures and power outages, but also from heavy rainfalls or snowmelts. Heavy rain can overload wastewater collection systems, which are the underground sewer pipes that carry sewage to a treatment plant. With the sewage pipes overwhelmed, the excess water has nowhere to go, and can backup into basements through floor drains. Bypassing can lower the water level in the collection system, keeping sewage from backing up into basements, which would present health risks. "While facilities should not have to bypass, sometimes nature gives facilities more rain than they can handle," Barb Lynch, head of the DNR's environmental field services. According to DNR design standards for construction of new wastewater treatment systems, facilities should be able to handle the amount of water in the collection system from all three of these events happening at the same time: * * Peak sewage flows from homes, businesses and industry * Peak groundwater levels * A storm that drops two inches of water in an hour. While many collection systems in Iowa already have or are in the process of upgrading their collection systems to handle these events, many more need to upgrade. The DNR tracks bypass reports submitted by facilities and follows up with the facility to determine problems and help them upgrade their systems, although it can be a long-term process. The DNR has also formed a committee to discuss how it handles wet weather bypasses. "Bypasses enter the streams and lakes that Iowans use for fishing, swimming, boating and for drinking water. Because of this, and for the fish and plants that live in the water, bypassing needs to be minimized as much as possible," said Lynch. These types of situations can occur when large amounts of rainwater or snowmelt, also called storm water, enter a sanitary sewer from cracks in sewer pipes, or improper connections, such as roof drains or sump pumps hooked up to the sanitary sewer system instead of the storm water system. The storm water should enter the storm sewer system, which receives no treatment before entering a stream or lake. Instead, storm water enters the sanitary sewer system (which treats wastewater from homes and businesses). "Communities need to check for sources of storm water getting into the system, and work with homes and businesses to disconnect storm water sources from the sanitary sewer, as well as inspecting their sewage pipes," said Dennis Ostwinkle, head of the DNR's Washington field office and wastewater compliance coordinator. Facilities are required to report bypasses caused by mechanical failures to the DNR within 12 hours of onset or discovery. Facilities do not have to immediately report bypasses from precipitation events, but must include them in their monthly operating report to the DNR. The following communities have reported bypasses to the DNR: Audubon County: Audubon: The City of Audubon began bypassing wastewater to an unnamed tributary of Bluegrass Creek at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The city estimates it will bypass until Friday or Saturday, bypassing a total of 432,000 gallons of wastewater by Friday. The city plans to do test this summer to locate improper connections to the sanitary sewer. Black Hawk County Cedar Falls: The City of Cedar Falls is bypassing 500 gallons of wastewater per minute from its wastewater plant detention basin to the Cedar River. The bypass began Wednesday at 3 p.m. and is expected to end Thursday. Heavy rainfall has caused overflow of the city's 5 million gallon detention basin. Cass County Cumberland: The City of Cumberland is bypassing wastewater from a lift station to Seven Mile Creek following heavy rains. The bypass began at 1 a.m. Wednesday and is bypassing at a rate of 100,000 gallons per day. Crawford County Westside: The City of Westside began bypassing to East Boyer Creek at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. The city estimates it will bypass 100,000 gallons of wastewater by Friday morning. The city conducted smoke testing last week to locate improper connections to the sanitary sewer. Dallas County Minburn: The City of Minburn began bypassing from its lagoon control structures to an unnamed tributary of the North Raccoon River Wednesday and plans to continue bypassing due to continued rainfall. Franklin County Hampton: The City of Hampton is bypassing partially treated wastewater to Squaw Creek. The bypass began at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and is discharging at a rate of 200-300 gallons per minute. Grundy County Grundy Center: The City of Grundy Center began bypassing from its flow equalization basin to Black Hawk Creek at 2 p.m. Wednesday and will stop bypassing when conditions allow. Wellsburg: The City of Wellsburg began bypassing at midnight Wednesday to prevent wastewater from backing up into basements. As of Wednesday morning, the city had intermittently bypassed about 144,000 gallons of wastewater to an unnamed tributary to South Beaver Creek. Guthrie County Panora: The City of Panora began bypassing partially treated wastewater at 10 a.m. Wednesday to the Middle Raccoon River and expects to bypass 1.5 million gallons by Friday. The city is planning on installing new sanitary sewer lines this summer. Stuart: Heavy rainfall overwhelmed the Stuart Wastewater Treatment Facility, leading the city to bypass an estimated 34,000 gallons of wastewater to Longbranch Creek from 5 p.m. Tuesday to noon Wednesday. The City of Stuart has taken actions such as sealing collection lines and eliminating improper connections of roof drains and sump pumps to the sanitary sewer system, and is preparing to construct additional improvements at the wastewater treatment plant to reduce the amount of wet-weather bypassing. Hamilton County Blairsburg: Wastewater is overflowing from a lift station along Highway 69 to a ditch. The City of Blairsburg began bypassing sometime after noon on Tuesday. Jefferson County Fairfield: The City of Fairfield began bypassing at 11 p.m. Tuesday to a tributary of Big Cedar Creek. The city estimates it has bypassed about 185,000 gallons so far. Keokuk County Sigourney: The City of Sigourney bypassed about 60,000 gallons to an unnamed creek, a tributary of Bridge Creek, after a fuse blew on pump controls at a lift station. The city discovered the problem at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday and has replaced the fuse. Marion County Knoxville: The City of Knoxville is bypassing from its storm water equalization lagoon to Competine Creek. Polk County Des Moines International Airport: The airport began bypassing from its storm water containment areas to Middle Creek and Yeader Creek at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, and will continue until the rain stops. Scott County Davenport: The City of Davenport discovered a bypass at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when a bar screen building lost power and sent untreated sewage into a drainage ditch which runs to a backwater of the Mississippi River. The bypass ended at 1:15 p.m. Van Buren County Milton: The City of Milton bypassed about 5,000 gallons of wastewater to a tributary of the Little Fox River from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Webster County Fort Dodge: After receiving heavy rainfall Tuesday morning, the City of Fort Dodge began bypassing to a stormwater pond at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and then to the Des Moines River beginning at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday. Due to additional rainfall, the city reports it will cease the bypass when weather conditions allow. -30- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/