No, I'm not talking about Margaritas, though God knows I could use a big frosty pitcher.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District expects sewer overflows to continue today as it braces for more heavy rains.
After Saturday's deluge - measured at 6.5 inches at Elm Grove, 5.7 inches on Milwaukee's northwest side, and 5.5 inches at Oak Creek -- district officials used each of its three emergency measures Saturday to prevent widespread sewer backups in basements or discharges to streets, MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer said this morning.
Gates connecting combined sewers in central Milwaukee and eastern Shorewood to the deep tunnel storage system were closed beginning at 5:55 p.m. Saturday. The closing gates resulted in sewer overflows in those two areas to the city's rivers and Lake Michigan.
But the tunnel continued to fill quickly with extreme flows from separate sanitary sewers in the remainder of the district's service area, Shafer said. He ordered gates between the sanitary sewers and the deep tunnels closed beginning at 8:15 p.m., he said.
A third step was taken at 9:30 p.m. Saturday when Shafer ordered blending of wastewater flows at the Jones Island treatment plant. Blending of partly treated sewage with fully treated wastewater is done to boost the amount that can be pushed through Jones Island, preventing flooding of treatment basins there and allowing some wastewater to be pumped out of the deep tunnel.
The district is allowed to discharge up to 60 million gallons of blended wastewater to Lake Michigan in a 24-hour period during such extreme rain storms. Around 10:30 a.m. today, Jones Island operators were blending at a rate of 40 million gallons a day, Shafer said.
It's horrible to have wastewater dumped into the lake, even MMSD's special blend.
It's worse to have sewer backups into homes.
That's a more immediate health threat.
Just dump it.
2 comments:
I've been saying that forever. Just dump it. The people who get all excited about the dumping of waste water in to the lake seem to forget, or don't seem to realize, what the other option is for us. Our sewers would back up.
Now, I've got some seepage from the rains. Some baking powder, dehumidifier, fans . . . maybe even a carpet cleaner, and after a bit all will be fine. I can deal with any mold and mildew as it occurs.
But human waste? Everything would be ruined. Everything. Who would want to touch anything let alone even go in to a basement with a backed up sewer? Talk about a potential for disease.
Not only that, but people need to remember just how big our lake is. Even with all the dumping, it's a speck when you consider the size of Lake Michigan.
Lastly, it might be gross, but it's biodegradable. It goes away. It's not like an oil slick that will linger for a long time. It dilutes, and goes away.
Dump it. And keep it out of my basement.
In a perfect world, there would be no need for MMSD to release blended sewage into the lake.
It's not like I'm pro-polluting Lake Michigan. And it is aggravating when a relatively light rain requires dumping.
HOWEVER, in instances like last weekend, there's no question that the best place for sewer water to be directed is away from people's homes.
As a health threat, having a basement filled with sewage has to be very high on the list.
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