KENOSHA, Wis. — Heavy rain earlier this week overwhelmed part of Kenosha’s sanitary sewer system, forcing the Kenosha Water Utility to divert diluted wastewater into the storm sewer system and ultimately into Lake Michigan in an effort to prevent damage to homes.
According to the utility, the bypass occurred between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of 89th Street and 17th Avenue after the city received 2.78 inches of rain over a 48-hour period. Officials said the ground was already saturated from earlier April rain events, leading to excessive flow in the sewer collection system.
The Kenosha Water Utility said the discharge consisted of diluted wastewater and was necessary to avoid backups and potential property damage inside homes.
Sewer bypasses like this can happen when heavy rain infiltrates older sanitary sewer systems through cracked pipes, sump pump connections, illegal hookups, or other leaks that allow stormwater to enter lines that are only supposed to carry wastewater. When too much water enters the system too quickly, utilities sometimes divert diluted sewage to avoid sewage backing up into basements and homes.
Even though the utility characterized the release as diluted wastewater, any discharge into waterways such as Lake Michigan typically draws scrutiny from state regulators. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources generally reviews these incidents to determine whether utilities followed proper procedures, whether the bypass could have been avoided, and whether any environmental impacts occurred.
The utility reported that all sewer bypass events are disclosed to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Residents with questions were directed to contact the Kenosha Water Utility at 262-653-4300.
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10 Responses
It would helpful if the city enforced the ordinance regarding homes pumping sump water directly into the street/storm sewers. Just drive around forest park as an example.
2 types of sewers — sanitary & storm — pumping yer sump pump out to the ditch & into storm sewers is legal—- piping it into the sanitary plumbing in yer home is a no-no
Management of this water discharge is the responsibility of the property owner and regulated by the City of Kenosha General Ordinance Chapter 5.115 Sump Pumps:
Per ordinance, sump pump discharge cannot flow over or accumulate on public sidewalks, discharge directly onto adjacent properties, or cause a public nuisance.
Discharges Through the Curb
New sump pump discharges through the curb are not permitted. Existing curb discharges may be ordered to redirect if the discharge creates or contributes to a public nuisance in the right-of-way.
( I consider an overflow of sewage into Lake Michigan more than a public nuisance and street discharge through the curb is making a contribution).
2 types of sewers — sanitary & storm — pumping yer sump pump out to the ditch & into storm sewers is legal—- piping it into the sanitary plumbing in yer home is a no-no
I looked into this issue and was told that the cost to redo the sewer system in our city would be “too costly”.
And yet we are replacing the street car rails that nobody rides, building high rent apartments people cant afford and flying around the moon at a cost of billions.
Keep dumping raw sewage in our waters… wow…
Wait till you find out where the fish go.
If Kenosha dumped raw sewage, can you only imagine the billions of gallons of raw excrement Milwaukee dumped.
Waiting for the environmentalist wackos to be outraged….as usual, those brain-dead sheep will not utter a peep.
Wetlands can store about 330,000 gallons of water per acre (Purdue). 90% of the wetlands in our watershed are gone or altered (Pike River Plan 2013). There’s part of the problem.
Kenosha is good at wasting money. Someone thought it was a good idea to close brick up the streets downtown. Unfortunately lack of parking hurt businesses. They opened the streets again but it didn’t help. They put in a trolley system that is useless. Do you suppose they blew 15 million on a civil war museum because it was a legitimate need? How often have you heard Kenosha in the same sentence as Gettysburg? Kenosha streets are horrible. Who is getting kickbacks for concrete roads? Pleasant Prairie is much smoother with blacktop. Hopefully I can leave this Chicago suburb someday.
I work at a water reclamation facility and when a storm overwhelms our system, we divert flow to empty tank basins. After the storm goes away, the stored wastewater is slowly processed with the incoming wastewater flow to the plant.
The Kenosha water utility gave the political answer instead of just calling a spade a spade. I&I (inflow and infiltration) is term used for cracked sewer pipes where ground water can enter the sewer pipe. The sewer lines should be inspected with a camera to locate and repair said cracks. Illegal sewer connections are so few and far between it’s hardly worth mentioning as a contributor of “overwhelming” the system. Those could be located by smoke tests.
The issue is they don’t have space to store wastewater during high flows. Storage basins would eliminate discharging diluted sewage into Lake Michigan.