Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Services Division

For Immediate Release August
7, 2007

WELLSBURG BYPASS REACHES SOUTH BEAVER CREEK

MEDIA CONTACT: Curt Krieger at (641) 424--4073

WELLSBURG – Heavy rains early Tuesday in Grundy County led the City
of Wellsburg to bypass untreated wastewater to a tributary that reaches
South Beaver Creek.

The city released approximately 72,000 gallons of diluted wastewater to
a nearby drainage ditch from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. Tuesday. More than two
inches of rain fell in that time, overwhelming the city’s sewer
collection system. The drainage ditch reaches a tributary that flows to
South Beaver Creek.

Heavy rain can overload wastewater collection systems, which are
underground sewer pipes that carry sewage to a treatment plant. With
sewage pipes overwhelmed, 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.

This can happen when large amounts of rainwater or snowmelt, also
called storm water, enter a sanitary sewer from cracks in sewer pipes.
It can also enter from improper connections, such as roof drains or sump
pumps hooked up to the sanitary sewer system instead of the storm water
system. Rain water should enter the storm sewer system, which receives
no treatment before entering a stream or lake. Instead, storm water
enters and overwhelms the sanitary sewer system (which treats wastewater from homes and businesses).

Wellsburg plans to work with residents to remove improper hookups of
foundation drains, gutters and sump pumps to the sanitary sewer system.

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