NEILLSVILLE RECEIVES "SMOKE TEST" REPORT
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005 -- 11:02 AM
The City of Neillsville?s public works department has received a report documenting the findings of this summer?s smoke testing of the sanitary sewer system.Earth Tech Incorporated, they city?s engineering firm, submitted the report.
The water treatment facility, built in 1997, has reached maximum capacity during rainstorms. Public Works director Dave Flynn says that shouldn?t happen. Rain is supposed to run into the storm sewer that empties directly into local waterways like the Black River and O?Neill Creek.
This summer, the city decided to spend $19,000 to try to find troubled spots where the storm water was getting into the sanitary sewer system and unnecessarily taxing the treatment plant, which empties the treated water into the Black River.
Flynn says he wasn?t surprised by the report, which found 13 leaky manhole covers, 5 private downspouts or roof drains illegally connected to the sanitary sewer system, 6 foundation drains connected to the sanitary sewer and 11 blocked mains.
Flynn says they've already taken care some of the manhole covers and have seen reduced flow into the treatment facility during rainstorms. He says the city will contact the few homeowners that have drains running directly into the sanitary sewer system and ask them to cap the drains.
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