A come on? From the City of Wilmore? You bet! Because this is very, very important! And we must have your help -- each and every property owner in Wilmore! Please, please read on, understand, and then respond.
The problem is that too much water from rain and winter thaws is getting into our sewer lines. So much water is getting in to the pipes that they become "too full" -- and most of that water does not need to be treated at the treatment plant.
In our language, we call the two sources of external water in sewer pipes "infiltration" and "inflow". Infiltration occurs when rain water saturates the soil and eventually seeps into damaged pipes in the ground. Inflow occurs when water from basements, crawl spaces, or downspouts from rain gutters are directly connected to sewer lines.
There is no quick solution to solving infiltration problems. Each damaged pipe must be repaired or replaced. But inflow can be quickly and inexpensively addressed.
WE NEED YOU TO HELP US SOLVE THE INFLOW PROBLEM! NOW! TODAY! Each and every developed property in Wilmore is a candidate for contributing to inflow. Every downspout that does not discharge directly to the top of the ground may contribute to inflow. Every pump in a basement or crawl space which does not discharge out on the ground may contribute to inflow. The result is that this acceptably clean water goes into the City's sewer lines, fills the pipes beyond capacity and then "escapes" or overflows in undesirable places, usually from a manhole lid in a street or yard.
These discharges eventually make their way into the pipes designed and intended to catch only runoff from the streets. Those waters become part of the Town Branch, then Jessamine Creek, then the Kentucky River. The health risk is not insignificant, for fish, fowl, or man.
BUT YOU CAN HELP! YOU MUST HELP! If you are not absolutely certain where your downspouts or sump pumps discharge, we want to help you. We need you to call us and let us come to your property and help you determine if your property is contributing to the inflow problem. If a downspout or pump is directly connected to your sewer lines, it must be disconnected! It is unnecessary to treat that water. As a matter of fact, it is illegal in the State of Kentucky to connect downspouts and sump pumps to a sanitary sewer system. But right now this is not a matter of legalities -- it is a practical matter. We must reduce the water in our sewer lines during rains and winter thaws.
It is so important that "WE'LL EVEN PAY FOR IT!!" The City will either pay a contractor to disconnect the pump or downspout, or we will use our staff to do the work. And there will be no penalties, no retribution whatsoever.
This is important -- very important. We need you to call us. We need you to tell your neighbors to call us. Please call 858-4251, 858-4411, or 858-4412 and arrangements will be made to schedule someone from our staff to visit your property at your convenience. Then we will make arrangements to fix it, if necessary.
Please call! We can serve you best by working with each of you to fix this problem. We all benefit from this effort. We want to provide you premium service, come both sunshine and rain!
--David Carlstedt
Director of Utilities