Pleasant Prairie Reports Collection System Sewer Overflow Near Cooper Road - Rehabilitation of Sanitary Sewer in Area Is Ongoing
In compliance with DNR (Department of Natural Resources) requirements, the Village of Pleasant Prairie Sewer Utility would like to notify residents of a collection system sanitary sewer overflow that occurred intermittently between 9:00 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, June 11. The overflow occurred at a manhole in the 7800 block of Cooper Road. Water from the sanitary sewer was released into a ditch-line along the road and allowed to absorb into the ground.
Heavy rains (2.4 inches) received between 5:00 p.m. on June 10 and 8:00 a.m. on June 11, on top of already wet soils, caused storm water to infiltrate (enter) the sanitary sewer and create volumes of water that the sanitary sewer system is not designed to handle. In response to the pressure created by the infiltration of storm water and in order to prevent sanitary sewer backups in residential homes in the area, the Sewer Utility first attempted to pump water from this location and dump it into a sewer facility nearby. When the pumps were unable to keep up with the flow of water, the utility initiated the overflow of storm and sanitary sewer water into the ditch.
The Village has been rehabilitating sanitary sewer mains in the Cooper Road area over the past three years, relining older clay mains with cured in place resin to help prevent storm water from seeping into the sanitary sewer system. The Village is continuing the work on sanitary sewer mains this year and expects to complete the work in 2015. Upon completion of the sewer main lining, the Village will create a program to work with residents in the area in order to identify and correct leaking private sanitary sewer laterals (laterals connect a home’s plumbing to the sewer main). Other steps that the Village takes to prevent overflows include: cleaning the clay sewer mains annually, maintaining backflow preventers in this area regularly, and verifying that residents do not have sump pumps or drainage tiles connected to the sanitary sewer system.