Downspout connections inspected

The first batch of letters informing 18 building owners of a potential illegal roof downspout sewer connection went out Tuesday. Another 251 letters will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Notifying homeowners and detaching downspouts connected to Fairfield?s sanitary sewer system is the first step in the city?s three-pronged approach to alleviating sewer overflows.

French-Reneker-Associates Inc. is currently inspecting downspouts and manhole covers throughout the city. If the inspector is unable to determine whether or not a downspout is draining into the sanitary sewer system, the homeowner will receive a letter giving them 70 days to either disconnect the downspout or prove it is not illegally connected to the system.

Roughly two-thirds of the city?s downspouts have already been inspected, and councilman Daryn Hamilton, who chairs the water and sewer utilities committee, said inspections should wrap up by mid-summer. Wastewater superintendent Ken Goering said the goal is to get all the drains disconnected by the end of the year.

He suggested rain barrels and rain gardens as great options to store and use rain runoff.

Meanwhile, the manhole covers are being classified into four different categories, so the city can plug or replace any covers with holes or leaky seals that may let rainwater into the sanitary sewer system.

While the inspections are ongoing, the city will begin phase two of its inflow and infiltration plan ? the cleaning and televising of sewer lines. Beginning this summer, Hamilton said a private company will clean roughly 100,000 feet of sewer lines in an eastern section of the city. The camera will inspect for cracks in the lines and will locate lateral connections from buildings in preparation for phase three, Hamilton explained.

For the complete article, see the Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Fairfield Ledger.