Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Services Division

For Immediate Release                                                 
   August 27, 2007

COMMUNITIES DISCHARGE WASTEWATER AS RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL

MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Baskins at (515) 281-8395 or Mike Wade at (563)
927-2640.

DES MOINES — Following a short period of dry weather, rain Monday
morning has led additional Iowa communities to bypass wastewater.

In addition, some communities are discharging partially treated
wastewater from lagoon facilities that have filled during the past
week’s storms. The wastewater in these lagoons has not been in
storage for 180 days, as required by DNR rules. However, with high river
flows to provide extra dilution, these discharges will likely be within
water quality limits, according to Mike Wade, an environmental
specialist in the DNR’s Manchester field office.

“Most wastewater treatment systems that use lagoons regularly draw
down the level of wastewater in the lagoons each spring and fall when
stream flows are higher,” said Wade. “This provides storage room
through summer and winter, and facilities can only drawdown if the
discharge will meet their permit limits.”

Monday’s lagoon drawdowns come only about two weeks before most
communities conduct regular fall drawdowns. The facilities will collect
samples of the discharges.

Communities reporting bypasses (not from lagoons) to the DNR Monday
include:

Buchanan County
Independence: To prevent sewage from backing up into basements, the
City of Independence began bypassing wastewater at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The city is bypassing from a manhole at First Avenue and Fifth Street NE
to its storm sewer, which discharges directly to the Wapsipinicon
River.

Clayton County
Garnavillo: The City of Garnavillo began bypassing untreated wastewater
from its south lift station to an unnamed tributary of Buck Creek at
8:40 a.m. Monday.

Van Buren County
Birmingham: The City of Birmingham bypassed untreated wastewater from
two locations beginning at 4:00 a.m. Saturday. The bypass from the
city’s main lift station to an unnamed tributary of Cedar Creek
ended at noon Sunday. The bypass from the Grinder Pump location on West
Cedar Street to an unnamed tributary of the Des Moines River ended at
10:00 a.m. Sunday.

Facilities must report bypasses caused by mechanical failures to the
DNR within 12 hours, while they are required to report
precipitation-related bypasses on their monthly operating reports.

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