Why? Have, mandatory home inspection laws? | Hydro Physics of Erie PA

If every day were average, with 25% of sanitary sewer flows transported to the City for treatment being storm water, Millcreek’s sanitary sewer system each year pays about $750,000 for transportation and treatment of storm water that doesn’t need transportation or treatment. It is next to impossible to calculate flows relating to storm events, but these are substantial and simply increase that cost.

On top of that, Millcreek’s system is exposed to hundreds of thousands of dollars in surcharges if its sewage flows exceed its capacity in the inter-municipal system, and when the system’s capacity is exceeded, properties suffer damages from backups.

If Millcreek never allowed storm water to go into the sanitary sewer, how did it happen?

Despite these connections never being allowed and laws requiring that connections to the sanitary sewer system be inspected, they happen in a number of ways. A builder or a plumber may have decided to make the connection when the inspector wasn’t at the property. A sump pump or downspout may have been connected without the Township ever being contacted.

Is Millcreek identifying and eliminating storm water connections to the sanitary sewer just because of its Consent Order and Agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection?

No, but that Consent Order and Agreement is one reason for the policy. Until recently, it was very difficult if not impossible to identify precisely how and where storm water was entering the sanitary sewer system. Today, technology enables us to do this. By the time PaDEP contacted Millcreek on issues leading to the COA, the Township and the Sewer Authority had recognized the substantial annual costs of the unlawful connections and the threat they posed to the Township’s future growth, not to mention its efforts to end discharges into Walnut Creek.

What is Millcreek going to do to reduce storm water flows in the sanitary sewer system?

On March 30, 2004, Millcreek’s Board of Supervisors adopted a detailed policy with procedures to identify and terminate unlawful connections of storm water into the sanitary sewer system. As a general rule, the Township will identify areas of the Township to investigate. Notices will be sent to property owners in advance, asking that they call to schedule a time that is convenient for them. If the owner does not respond, a second notice will be sent. Township employees will visit properties, to identify connections to the sewer system and determine if any downspout, sump or other storm water connections have been made to the sanitary sewer. If an unlawful connection is found, it will be the owner’s responsibility to terminate it and re-route the storm water in some other way that complies with regulations