The heavy rains on Thursday, April 20th, caused a temporary back-up in the City’s sewer mains. City Manager Clint Holmes said if the lines fill up to the point where the school empties into the City system, because of the relatively low elevation of the high school, the City installed check valves automatically shut off inflow to the sewer system from the school.
There was a concern that with the connection temporarily closed, that waste water produced by the school would overflow their system. As a precaution, the school sent students home and closed for the day.
The DPW Foreman and City Manager met at the school with the two principals and the Maintenance Chief at about 10 PM on April 20th to assess the situation. The lagoons were checked to insure they still had sufficient free-board and various manholes throughout the City were opened to determine water levels.
By 11 PM Thursday evening, the pumps had caught up enough that the school was comfortable with having classes on April 21st. The high water alarm at the Maple Valley Lift Station finally went off on the 21st.
The lift station pumped over seven times the daily average for this time of year – over 700,000 gallons.
Holmes said the City is still challenged by the number of people who have basement and crawlspace sump pumps illegally hooked up to the City’s sanitary sewer system.
