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Health Advisory In Effect After 1.4 Million Gallons Of ECUA Sewage Dumped
August 16, 2011
A health advisory has been issued after an ECUA pipe failure released about 1.4 million gallons of untreated sewage into the wetlands of Thompson Bayou near the University of West Florida this morning — the second such failure this summer.
A health alert has been issued for Thompson’s Bayou where it meets the Escambia River. The Escambia County Health Department is advising against any water related activities in the area due to the potential for high bacteria levels.
At 9:50 a.m. Monday, ECUA staff noticed a discrepancy in flows between the major lift stations and the influent flow meter at the Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. An old 12-inch “force main” was found ruptured near Greenbriar Boulevard. Emergency crews and tanker trucks were immediately dispatched to the affected site to help contain the spill, according to ECUA.
Operators initiated steps to minimize the wastewater being pumped to the CWRF and to minimize the untreated sewage leaking from the broken force main. At 10:40 a.m. an isolation valve was closed at the connection between the old force main and the new transmission system to the Cantonment facility. At 11:50 a.m., a temporary bypass line was complete from a lift station to ECUA tanker trucks and the discharge was stopped, ECUA said.
The spill was reported to local and state authorities, including the Escambia County Health Department and the Department of Environmental Protection.
In late June, an ECUA pipe failure dumped 2.2 million gallons of untreated sewage into Thompson’s Bayou.
Comments
15 Responses to “Health Advisory In Effect After 1.4 Million Gallons Of ECUA Sewage Dumped”
Weld a large threaded nipple over the rupture, put a plug in it and go home.
Its too bad that ECUA has ZERO preventive maintenance! They claim that their mechanics do all the preventive maintenance needed….sound familiar? hint hint OIL SPILL!!!
So they spent all this money building a new plant out here where it could leak into the bay because the downtown people didn’t want the leaks there!
You guys that are blaming the “new system” for this are wrong.
Many areas, such as this one required pumping up hill. And the same areas still need to have their sewage pumped up hill.
Low lying area sewer lines need to be pumped or forced uphill so that at some point it could run down hill to the old plant.
Then from the old plant it is now pumped to the new plant.
REGARDING:
“And they are worried about rural septic tanks contaminating the environment. How many septic fields leaking would equal this state of the art rupture?”
Good point. Even with this, though, it’s possible the total amount lost is less than it would be if each and every user had a septic tank, only a small fraction of which would be leaking but it would be a small fraction of a large number.
I would guess the new system is using a higher pressure to move wastewater than the old system and/or the design of the pipe was based on the lower pressure expected. They probably figured they had some safety factor to cover the pressure difference and the people laying it way back when figured THEY had some safety factor so they weren’t as careful about pressure rating as they otherwise might have been.
Regardless, everything gets old in time and fails.
David in late youth
Sure is nice of those city folks to pump their waste up here to the north end of the county to a brand new sewage treatment plant that 90 percent of us who live within 5 miles of the plant can’t even use.
Oh and BTW, those mentioning septic inspections should be careful because those of us who have aerobic septic systems are already being inspected once per year at a cost of $300 per year for the inspector to walk up to the system, verify that it is operating correctly. Takes about 10 minutes if you count the amount of time it takes for them to get out of their vehicle.
ECUA has been doing this to ESC. bay for many years. Now they have moved a few miles upstream to the Esc. river. Someone is not doing their job and need to be replaced. Someone tell me why sanctions are not in order for this bunch of deadbeats?
This should help the local seafood guys when it dumps i’n bay… Why was a 12inch main carrying sewage that could spill i’n such a sensitive area allowed to get “OLD” anyway ???
This is ridiculous. One spill in our waterways was bad enough, but two spills within two months into the same bayou is inexcusable. This area is a beautiful nature preserve on campus that has now been closed indefinitely by UWF.
The expensive new sewage treatment plant is working as planned, it seems. Nothing could go wrong pumping all that sewage uphill to the new plant instead of letting it flow downhill the way the old plant worked…
And they are worried about rural septic tanks contaminating the environment. How many septic fields leaking would equal this state of the art rupture?
Why do I recall a statement along the line of—”"with this system nothing can happen”. Glad it was fixed.
Must be some terrific pressure. A 12 inch main spewing 1.4 million gallons in two hours. Thats much better than the deep water horizon oil spill.
Maybe the state should start inspecting sewage treatment plants instead of the private septic systems. Mine cannot spill 1.4 million gallons of anything.
” An old 12-inch “force main” was found ruptured…” Anyone else see a rate hike in the near future?