Sewer Spill Reduction Program Paying Off!

by Councilman Scott Peters
March 2003

At the March 7th Clean Water Task Force meeting the Metropolitan Waste Water Division delivered a report to the Task Force that showed that sewer spills were down 41% from two years ago and beach closures have been reduced by 45%. I wanted to share the encouraging results with you so that you have an understanding of the steps we have been taking for the last two years to reduce sewer spills and keep our beaches and bays free of pollution.

One of the most important efforts that has helped us in the short term has been an aggressive cleaning schedule. Roots and grease are the top two causes of sewer spills and cleaning the pipes is an effective way to reduce these spills. To complete this aggressive cleaning regime the city hired 67 supplemental positions and has purchased new equipment that has enabled them to access some of our difficult to reach canyon sewer lines. MWWD has now cleaned over 2,500 miles of sewer lines, the results of which have been reduced spills despite our recent bad weather. In fact despite a significant increase in rain in January and February there was a decrease in sewer spills compared to the same months last year and no spills reached our public waters.

The City is also using the latest technology to detect potential problems in the system before they become spills. As I noted earlier we are using television cameras to visually inspect the interior of over 1,000 miles of pipeline so that we can place our resources where and when they are needed most. MWWD is also using the City=s police helicopter when it is not being used for police business to inspect the thousands of manholes located in our hard to reach urban canyons. MWWD is also employing an infrared camera on the bottom of the police helicopter to hunt for sewer spills at night in canyons and relay coordinates to field crews. This allows our crews to get to the area before a spill gets out of hand. To access these sites MWWD has purchased lighter and more maneuverable vehicles that can rehabilitate and clean sewer pipes with the least impact to the canyon environment. We have even teamed with local environmental groups to create the volunteer canyon watcher program, which uses volunteers who regularly hike in the canyons to keep an eye out for spills or vandalism to manholes. It may seem strange but vandalism actually accounted for 3% of our sewer spills last year, and the million gallon tecolote spill in early 2001 is an example of how vandalism can have a severe impact on the system.

The 41% reduction in sewer spills shows that we are on the right track to fixing this very important infrastructure. We are not done yet, but I am pleased with our progress. The City will continue the aggressive effort to clean, rehabilitate and replace our aging sewer collection system and I look forward to bringing you more good news in the near future.