rslifkin
Guru
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2019
- Messages
- 7,982
- Location
- Rochester, NY
- Vessel Name
- Hour Glass
- Vessel Make
- Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Why can't they just release the stormwater? If these release events are mostly happening during weather events (RAIN), it seems the stormwater runoff would be the main culprit in these events. I find it hard to believe that people are using their bathrooms so much more on a rainy day to overwhelm the system. So why isn't the system designed to release the excess stormwater into the waterway rather than untreated sewage?
Disclaimer: I am not smart.
It depends on the sewer system. Some older systems merge the 2 flows at a point where they can't just dump one but not the other. Newer systems usually have a bit more flexibility there.
In Rochester, where I live, they mostly solved the problem with a series of huge underground tunnels to act as a storage tank. So if there's a ton of flow, the tunnels fill up to hold the excess until the treatment plant can catch up. Every once in a while there's still some overflow, but it's pretty rare and typically a (relatively) small amount.