Rain, infiltration in sewer system causes overflow

The city of Fairfield had a sanitary sewer overflow of approximately 206,900 gallons Thursday.

According to wastewater superintendent Ken Goering, the overflows were from inflow and infiltration, which is rain and groundwater flowing in to the sanitary sewers, that resulted from the 1 to 1.5 inches of rain that fell around midnight Wednesday.

?This rain event producted a high flow coming to the wastewater plant,? said Goering.

The flow exceeding the plant?s capacity was pumped to a 5-million gallon rention pond. The pond has air diffusers to pretreat the sewage until it can be returned to the wastewater plant for final treatment after the flow decreases.

Goering said the city is currently checking for potential roof downspout connections to the sanitary sewers. Downspouts should drain into yards, not the sanitary sewer system, he explained.

If an illegal connection is found, the homeowner is sent a letter and given 60 days to get the connection removed without being penalized.

?The big push in 2009 will be to get all downspouts removed, and televise most of the east half of the city to see how much sewer replacement and repair will be required,? said Goering.

For the complete article, see the Friday, May 1, 2009, Fairfield Ledger.