HomeMy Public PortalAbout2018-SSO-CSONotificationBrochure-FINAL1
The Metropolitan
St. Louis Sewer District
Sewer
Overflows
In Our
Community
Originally published: June 2008
Updated: October 2018
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About MSD
Formed in 1954, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) is
the governmental agency that provides wastewater and stormwater
management services for all of the City of St. Louis and
approximately 90 percent of St. Louis County. Comprised of 79
separate sewer systems that have been incorporated into one entity
over the last several decades, MSD services over 400,000 single -
family residential, multi-family residential, and commercial/industrial
accounts.
The sewer system MSD manages today is one of the largest and most
complex systems in the United States. In terms of wastewater sewers
alone, MSD manages the 4th largest system in the nation. To give
some perspective on what “4th largest” means for our community,
consider that MSD’s wastewater system is approximately the same
size as the wastewater system in Los Angeles, California. Although
the two systems are approximately the same size – as measured in
miles of sewers that handle wastewater – system upgrades and
operational costs in Los Angeles are shared by over 5 million people
versus approximately 1.3 million in St. Louis.
Overall, MSD maintains approximately 6,500 miles of sewers that
handle wastewater. Within MSD’s service area are two distinct
sewer systems that handle wastewater: A combined sewer system
that handles both wastewater and stormwater within the same sewer
pipe; and a separate, stand alone, sanitary sewer system that is
designed to handle only wastewater within the sewer pipe. Depending
on what part of MSD’s service area you live in, you are either served
by a combined sewer system or a separate sewer system.
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This labyrinth of sewers leads to 7 wastewater treatment plants that
combined treat, on average, over 350 million gallons of wastewater
per day. In addition to sewers that in some manner handle
wastewater, MSD maintains over 3,000 miles of sewers that handle
only stormwater and are not a part of the wastewater collection and
treatment system.
Throughout MSD’s service area, there are hundreds of points where
a combination of rainwater and wastewater discharges into local
waterways from the sewer system during moderate to heavy
rainstorms. These sewer overflow points act as relief valves when
too much rainwater enters the sewer system – without them our
community could experience thousands of basement backups and/or
extensive street flooding. (Even with these overflows points,
basement backups can number in the dozens to hundreds during
particularly heavy rains.) Depending on where sewer overflows are
located within MSD’s system, they are classified as combined sewer
overflows --or-- constructed separate sewer overflows. Many of
these overflows are a legacy of the way our wastewater systems were
first built. Though most overflows predate the District’s creation in
1954, they are still MSD’s responsibility and efforts to address the
problem must continue.
The issue of overflows has been a significant focus of MSD’s work
for many years. For example, from 1992 to 2012 MSD spent
approximately $2.7 billion to eliminate over 380 overflows. Today,
our work to address sewer overflows and improve water quality
continues through the Consent Decree. This work, also known as
MSD Project Clear, calls for $4.7 billion in spending over 23 years.
MSD Project Clear began in 2012 and addresses our community’s
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wastewater collection and treatment capabilities on a system-wide
basis. This program is a mammoth undertaking that will benefit St.
Louisans – and our environment – for generations to come.
History of Sewer Systems in St. Louis
When combined sewers were first built in the St. Louis area in the
1850s, they were considered a major advancement in protecting the
public’s health and safety. For the first time, wastewater and
rainwater could be carried away from major population centers. This
in-turn would help protect the community from diseases – such as
cholera – that were common in the 19th century.
During the early to mid-1900s, the construction of combined sewers
was phased out in favor of separate sewers, so that rainwater and
wastewater could be carried in separate sewer pipes.
Early sewer systems drained directly into local rivers and streams.
However, by the middle to latter part of the 20th century, the use of
wastewater treatment plants started to become standard throughout
the United States, including St. Louis. Wastewater – that years
earlier would have been discharged directly into local waterways –
now went to treatment plants to be cleaned and returned to the
environment. In spite of modern-day wastewater treatment plants
being the standard, both combined and separate sewers still present
challenges for our community – challenges faced by many cities
across the country.
When combined sewers were built, they were built with a finite
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capacity to handle wastewater and rainwater at the same time. (This
is true of separate sewers and stormwater sewers as well – all sewers
have a capacity limit.) As our St. Louis community developed and
grew, valuable green areas were paved over to make way for roads
and buildings. These green areas that contained trees, bushes, grass,
and other natural surroundings, were no longer available to soak up
rainwater during storms – in their place was hard concrete or
blacktop that cannot absorb rainwater. Thus, the elimination of green
space and natural areas has caused combined sewers to handle more
and more rainwater and has put additional capacity demands on the
system. During rainfalls, so much rainwater can sometimes enter a
combined sewer that it becomes overcharged. An overcharged sewer
occurs during moderate to severe storms, when high volumes of rain
fall during a short period of time.
To avoid potentially thousands of basement backups and/or severe
street flooding when combined sewers overcharge, the system will
discharge a combination of rainwater and wastewater into local
waterways. These overflow points in the combined system are
known as combined sewer overflows.
The wastewater portion of the separate sewer system was not
designed to handle stormwater flows. However, due to a
condition known as inflow and infiltration, stormwater can enter
portions of the separate sewer system designed to handle wastewater
only. This inflow and infiltration of water into the wastewater system
can occur through weakened joints that connect sections of sewer
pipe and have deteriorated over time. Water can also enter the
wastewater system through cracks in the sewer pipe itself th at
develop with standard usage and age. Additionally, when
downspouts and drains meant to handle stormwater runoff from
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private property are inappropriately connected to the wastewater
portion of the public sewer system. When too much rainwater enters
a wastewater only sewer, the capacity of the system can easily be
exceeded and basement backups may occur. To help alleviate these
and other capacity issues, overflow points were constructed as part of
the separate sewer system. These overflow points in the separate
system are known as constructed separate sewer overflows.
Constructed separate sewer overflows exist throughout our St. Louis
area’s separate sewer system and were built to act as relief valves for
the wastewater portion of the system during moderate to heavy
storms.
If an overflow discharges or not is dependent upon a number of
factors, including how much rain falls over a given period of time.
The result is that not all overflows discharge every time it rains – in
fact, some overflows will go months or years without discharging.
Though both types of overflow points generally have the same
function, the distinction between combined sewer overflows and
constructed separate sewer overflows is made for engineering and
regulatory purposes.
What MSD Has Been & Will Be Doing
Sewer overflows are perhaps the biggest challenge facing MSD
today. MSD spent approximately $2.7 billion between 1992 - 2012
to remove more than 380 overflows. Today, MSD Project Clear has
committed $4.7 billion over 23-years to address remaining sewer
overflows – thereby improving water quality for everyone.
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MSD is aggressively working to remove each and every constructed
separate sewer overflow. However, we must be careful that we do
not cause additional basement backups when removing this type of
overflow. Therefore, in addition to the construction projects we have
completed and are currently building to remove constructed separate
sewer overflows, we are thoroughly investigating and planning out
the long-term capacity needs of the separate sewer system. It’s
important that we build the right solution for each and every
overflow.
Overflows in the combined system are more complicated – and
possibly more costly to address. Due to engineering and cost
limitations, and in accordance with environmental regulations, not all
combined sewer overflows will be removed. As such, controlling
these overflows is the goal. An example of controlling combined
sewer overflows would be to reduce their number and how many
times they discharge in a given timeframe.
As part of the $4.7 billion in projected spending for MSD Project
Clear, $100 million will go toward green infrastructure projects,
including partnerships with municipalities, local government
agencies, schools, community development organizations, and
private developers through rainscaping grant programs. Green
infrastructure within the grant program area specifically helps address
water quality in the Mississippi River when overflows do occur.
Additionally, by lowering the amount of stormwater runoff entering
the sewer system, rainscaping can help to alleviate basement backups
and sewer overflows.
Throughout the United States, hundreds of communities are dealing
with the challenges of combined sewer overflows. As required by
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federal and state regulations, MSD developed a Long-Term Control
Plan, which serves as a blueprint for how combined sewer overflows
are controlled. During its development, MSD reviewed what other
communities have done to control their combined sewer overflows,
while recognizing that the engineering that worked in other
communities, may not work in ours – ours is a very unique system
that requires very unique solutions.
In 2009, MSD submitted its Long-Term Control Plan to regulators.
The plans received approval in 2011. To develop this plan, MSD
engaged the public through open houses; presentations to business,
community, environmental and municipal groups; meetings with key
stakeholders; and many other activities. The plan submitted to
regulators reflected the feedback obtained from these stakeholders.
The plan calls for reducing the number of combined sewer overflows
along the Mississippi River’s tributaries – such as the River des Peres
and Maline Creek – and for enhancing green infrastructure in areas
where combined sewer overflows discharge directly into the river.
Implementing the Long Term Control Plan requires tremendous
effort that will only be matched – if not outpaced – by a concurrent,
yet separate program, to remove our system’s c onstructed separate
sewer overflows. These are the overflows that are located in the part
of the system where the wastewater and stormwater systems are
separate. Addressing overflows in the separate area is more
straightforward than addressing overflows in the combined area –
the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972 is very clear in that all
constructed separate sewer overflows must be eliminated. The
challenge in this part of our system is again capacity related ; but
green infrastructure and other options used for combined sewer
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overflows are not the solutions. Overflows in the separate system are
addressed through the sealing of weakened joints connecting
sections of sewer pipe; rehabilitation of cracked and aging pipes;
and disconnection of downspouts and stormwater drains from the
separate sanitary system. In short, stopping rainwater from entering
the separate sanitary sewer system leads to the elimination of separate
sewer overflows and – because the solution is the same for both –
addresses basement backups.
Legal Agreement
In June 2007, the State of Missouri and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a lawsuit against MSD
over the status of the overflows just described. The State of Missouri
and EPA were later joined by the Missouri Coalition for the
Environment.
In August 2011, the EPA announced a settlement agreement, and on
April 27, 2012, the US District Court for The Eastern District of
Missouri entered the Consent Decree, thus concluding the litigat ion
of United States And State Of Missouri V. Metropolitan St. Louis
Sewer District; Case No. 07-1120.
The Consent Decree requires the District to spend approximately $4.7
billion, in 2010 dollars, over a 23-year period. Throughout this
period, improvements will be made to MSD’s separate sewer system,
combined sewer system, and wastewater treatment plants. When
complete – and aside from sustaining or creating tens of thousands of
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local jobs – this work will help protect our natural environment and
local community from a combination of rainwater and sewage that is
discharged into area waterways during moderate to heavy rains – a
discharge that can annually measure in the billions of gallons.
MSD’s spending of $2.7 billion between 1992 and 2012 to eliminate
over 380 sewer overflows, reflects an understanding that there has
never been any question about the need for continued work to
upgrade and modernize the nation’s 4th largest sewer system.
Rather, the true question is how quickly this work is completed –
which, in-turn, is the driver behind continued increases in monthly
sewer bills. While spending $4.7 billion over 23 -years as a part of
the Consent Decree is a very fair agreement when compared to the
dozens of other cities across the nation that have been sued by the
Federal Government, the fact remains that this is billions of dollars
that will come from the pocketbook of St. Louis ratepayers – with
little to no state or federal assistance – and will be unavailable for
other critical needs in our community.
To assist those struggling with their bills, MSD has in place a
Customer Assistance Program for qualified low-income, elderly, and
disabled customers. This program includes tenants of rental
properties who are responsible for the MSD bill. Qualified customers
receive a rate reduction equal to 50 percent of the current charges on
their monthly sewer bill.
Beyond the regulatory issues, the St. Louis sewer system – like
much of the infrastructure in our region – is very old and in need of
investment and upgrades. As MSD works to implement the
requirements of the Consent Decree, we will seek to highlight the
need for renewed investment in all types of infrastructure, so that
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future generations may reap the same, if not greater, benefits that
current and past generations have enjoyed.
The Public’s Role
It is important that the public be made aware of sewer overflows and
their impact on our environment. Regardless of where one lives
within MSD’s service area, we all share the same environment. And
we all have the same concerns and goals for the type of environment
that we leave for future generations.
MSD is working to educate the public on the issue of overflows. Part
of this education is the placement of signs in multiple areas that could
be impacted by active overflows.
Required by the EPA, the signs clearly state that the structure the
placard is attached to is an overflow point and during rainfalls a
combination of wastewater and stormwater may discharge into a
nearby waterway. For overflow points where no easily identifiable
structure exists, the signage is posted nearby.
As part of these ongoing efforts to educate and inform the public,
MSD will also be introducing new features from time to time on its
website at www.stlmsd.com. These features will be part of larger
community outreach efforts designed to engage the public on
wastewater and stormwater issues that affect our entire community.
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If you have any further questions about sewer
overflows in our community or this brochure,
please contact MSD’s Customer Service Center
at (314) 768-6260 or visit www.stlmsd.com.
Metropolitan
St. Louis Sewer
District
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103-2555
(314) 768-6397
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