Saturday?s rain overflows sewers

Approximately 1.89 inches of rainfall in Fairfield Saturday resulted in about 38,016 gallons of sanitary sewer overflow from the collection system into Crow Creek.

Fairfield has a serious inflow and infiltration problem as shown by these sanitary sewer overflows.

A sanitary sewer overflow is defined as a discharge of wastewater to the environment. Overflows occur when there is too much water for the sewer system to handle, such as during rapid snowmelt or a rainfall.

In Fairfield, sanitary sewer overflows are exacerbated by an aging sewer infrastructure with defects such as broken and cracked pipes and illegal connections such as roof drains, sump pumps and footing drains. All are sources of inflow and infiltration.

Sanitary sewer overflows are not allowed by the city?s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit and the city is working to improve the wastewater collection system to prevent overflow events, while treatment staff is working to maximize operational control to manage bypass to the lowest volume possible.