Prolonged rainfall and flooding recently forced a Fountain City (WI) to take drastic measures to prevent treatment bypasses to the Mississippi.  Residents were asked to limit water usage as much as possible by “taking sponge baths” and “only flushing the toilet if absolutely necessary”.  Reportedly, the treatment plant was operating at six times the normal capacity.  The efforts were successful and the plant inflows were reduced to more manageable levels.  Obviously, though, this is not sustainable.  The city has a plan to build a new $7.2 million wastewater treatment plant to replace a 40-yr old facility.

It’s feasible that something like this could happen in Kentucky.  Therefore, communities should understand the potential risks and keep viable solutions in mind.  Wastewater communities typically have dedicated staff for operations and maintenance of the collection system infrastructure or the wastewater treatment plant.  Communication between the city administration and staff is vital if the wastewater treatment plant performance reflects high peak flows following wet weather and the current collection infrastructure is approaching 40-50 years.  Plant expansion and sewer replacement can be an expensive burden on smaller cities.  Assessing the performance of the collection system and treatment plant is necessary on an ongoing basis to determine when expansion and replacement are an absolute necessity versus a potential solution.  Ideally, as much stormwater inflow and groundwater infiltration should be removed from the system to maximize the treatment capacity and prolong the useful life of the sewers.