Senate proposal: $1.8 billion for sewer separation
April 30, 2009

Senators Frank Lautenberg and George Voinovich have proposed the "Water Quality Investment Act" to offer Federal funding to support the need to upgrade overflowing sewer systems. Much of the overflow problem comes from combined sewer systems, which transport wastewater from homes and businesses (sanitary sewage) in the same channels as stormwater runoff from streets and parking lots. The amount of water captured by stormwater systems in a moderate to heavy rainfall can exceed by several times over the amount of water that's normally produced by sanitary purposes, overwhelming municipal wastewater treatment plants and causing them to discharge the excess flows directly into rivers and streams. Ordinarily, the sanitary waste in those overflows is so diluted by the stormwater that it's considered mostly safe -- but it nonetheless represents a discharge of untreated wastewater into the natural environment. Heavy-rain events are not uncommon in our part of the country: An April storm dropped 5 to 7 inches of rain on much of the state of Iowa.

We can help you with a variety of sewer-separation products, including gates, pumps, water-quality monitors, and samplers. Please feel free to contact us with your questions.

April 2009
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last revised April 2009