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1. Municipal Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Management in Upstate New York – Aging Infrastructure, Dwindling Federal Dollars Libby Ford, QEP, Sr. Env. Health Engineer, Nixon Peabody LLP
2. Water/Wastewater Infrastructure – Why Worry?
3. Potable Water Treatment Physical-Chemical treatment
Chlorination (and fluorination) at end
Increased security measures
Recently announced plans to cover Rush Reservoir and Build 3 large concrete storage units ($40 M)
The MCWA treatment plant produces 60 million gallons of drinking water each day
4. Wastewater Treatment Most wastewater treatment done by “biological” treatment plants
Use physics, chemistry, microbiology and engineering to mimic the natural cleansing processes that take place in lakes, rivers, etc. but under controlled conditions.
Treated water can be safely returned to the environment.
5. Pipes, the Invisible Infrastructure which Connects Us Our drinking water distribution and wastewater sewer systems are old!
The Water Authority must maintain a 100+ year old distribution system
Some sections of the sewers are also very old
Leakage used to be accepted
now illegal for wastewater
wasteful for drinking water
6. Local Water & Wastewater Infrastructure Drinking Water
The plants that treat it.
Shoremont
Hemlock
The pipes that carry it
City system is celebrating 125 years!
214,000 people
500 miles of pipes
Over 100 year old pipes
MCWA
145 MGD capacity
63.1 MGD ave. use
2,550 miles of pipe Wastewater
Collection System
City – 785 miles
Van Lare – up to 135 MGD
1919
NWQ – up to 22 MGD
Town and Village STPs
7. Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Protection Wastewater/Stormwater Infrastructure
Water and wastewater systems need constant care and attention.
Sound Infrastructure
Reduces Flooding
Minimizing CombinedSewer Overflows
8. Estimated Costs To Protect and Restore the Great Lakes - W/WW Infrastructure * A five year total of $13.7 billion in spending to improve municipal wastewater treatment facilities along the Great Lakes. The Strategy suggests a 55/45 federal/local cost share
Improving drinking water quality through protection of drinking water sources ($1.61 billion);
Developing more rapid and more accurate tests for determining when beach water is safe for swimming ($7.2 million).
9. Estimated W/WW Directly Related Benefits*
10. Yonkers Example Catastrophic Unplanned Event Leads to Unbudgeted $1 Million+ A May 2007 sewer-main break in Yonkers caused more than 7 million gallons of raw sewage to flow into the Hudson River and has cost Westchester County taxpayers about $1 million to repair so far, and the price is likely to rise.
The 4-foot pipe broke in half and leaked sewage for two days.
The State and County issued health advisories for the water surrounding the spill that lasted for an additional two days
The media had a hey day!
11. Speedway Blvd Sewer Collapse(Tucson AZ) On September 7, 2002 a large interceptor sewer carrying 32 MGD of sewage collapsed.
Speedway Boulevard was closed for 78 days.
Businesses suffered and lives were disrupted.
No evacuations were necessary, but many residents unable to tolerate odors, nighttime construction lighting, and noisy pumps were provided hotel rooms paid for by Pima County.
The emergency response and repair expenditures estimated to have been $7.7 million.
12. Failing Wastewater Infrastructure Can Cause Illness The most common illness associated with swimming in water polluted by sewage is gastroenteritis, causing
Nausea, vomiting, stomachache, diarrhea, headache, and fever.
Other minor illnesses include ear, eye, nose, and throat infections.
In highly polluted water, swimmers may occasionally be exposed to more serious diseases like dysentery, hepatitis, cholera, and typhoid fever.
13. Dealing With Wet Weather Too much water in the wrong places can lead to ratepayer/voter complaints at the least, property destruction and potentially death if things go seriously wrong
Many remaining water quality problems caused by stormwater runoff
Increasing fines and penalties
14. Positive Benefits From the MC Combined Sewer Overflow Abatement Program Tunnels Before
65 overflow points --many would overflow during a small rain event.
30 - 40 times per year.
As little as 0.1" of rain and for some sites even less would cause an overflow.
The overflows would last as long as the storm and often a while after a storm. Today
3 - 6 tunnel overflows
Late in a storm and often for only a short while after the tunnel capacities are reached.
Gates, which were originally opened manually, now from Control Room
16. America’s Water/Wastewater Funding Gap Annual funding gap of $23 billion for the next 20 years!
$12 Billion Wastewater
$11 Billion Drinking Water
Federal funding has decreased by 75% since 1980
Covers only about 10% of capital outlays.
New requirements continue to be imposed
Without increases in federal or state funding
There are efforts at the federal and state level
To increase available funding
To set up, at the federal level, a dedicated funding source.
17. CWSRF Funding — New York
18. 2000 Local Water Need $
20. Increasing The Local Burden If Local Water/Wastewater Utilities Have to Fund the Gap Alone, Average Rates Will More Than Double
Many Families Would Be Unable to Pay Based Upon Reasonable Affordability Criteria
21. US EPA Affordability Criteria Households Paying More Than 2% of Household Income for Either Water or Wastewater Fee Constitutes a Hardship
Today 18% Exceed Hardship Rate
By 2009, at Least 22 %
Greatest Hardship on Lower and Middle Class Households
23. Solutions Being Discussedat the National Level Increasing the Federal Role
Establishing a Trust Fund
Appropriating more grant/loan money
Increased Public Education
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Needs Rarely Known or Understood by the Public
Political Resistance to Fee Changes
Remove Barriers to Innovative Financing
24. Wastewater Infrastructure Investment Learn -- Then Act! Understand better the importance and cost of maintaining the collection, distribution and treatment systems
Support reasonable rate increases when proposed
Support the Stormwater Management Coalition’s emerging plans
Support both State and federal efforts at increasing funding
25. Questions? Libby Ford, QEP Sr. Env. Health Engineer
Nixon Peabody LLP
1100 Clinton Square Rochester, NY 14604 (585) 263-1606lford@nixonpeabody.com www.nixonpeabody.com