The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District allowed overflows of nearly one billion gallons of sewage and storm water during the thunderstorms late last week. Experts say the overflows can't be helped during very heavy rains, at least not yet. WUWM's Ann-Elise Henzl reports.
In older parts of Milwaukee, wastewater and storm water go through the same sewer system and end up at the wastewater treatment plant. It gets overwhelmed when there's a lot of rain in a short period, and the deep tunnel isn't big enough to store such huge quantities. Yet the water has to go somewhere, according to Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District spokesman Bill Graffin.
"We don't want the water backing up into people's basements. That's our highest priority," Graffin says.
Milwaukee's overflow problem is similar to what other, older Great Lakes cities face, according to Joel Brammeier of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, based in Chicago.
"There are two things happening here. One's a crisis, and one's chronic, Brammeier says.
Brammeier says the overflows during storms are the "crisis." He says the "chronic" problem includes the fact that there's too much water flowing into the sewage system on a daily basis. He says that won't be solved by building a bigger deep tunnel or a larger treatment plant.
"It's not just about investing in pipes, it's about investing in green. We've got to take the dollars that are available and invest in things like land conservation, wetland restoration, rain gardens, and projects that actually keep water on land during storms and minimize the amount that goes into our combined sewers. And in Milwaukee, to its credit, MMSD is already doing this," Brammeier says.
Brammeier says the public can help, by disconnecting downspouts and capturing water in rain barrels -- and even using less water from the tap. He says part of the solution is getting people to understand the impact of their water use.
Sandra McClellan of UWM's Great Lakes WATER Institute agrees people should pay more attention to how they use water. But while the idea of sewage overflows -- and human waste in rivers and lakes -- might be an unpleasant one, McClellan says the bacteria likely degrade over time, reducing their danger to human health. She's perhaps more concerned about other effects of overflows.
"We do worry about all the chemicals that get washed in, because when you think about what goes down our drain, it's cleaners, it's pharmaceuticals, there's a lot of industrial chemicals that go through the wastewater treatment plant. So those types of chemicals might impact, along with some of the biological agents, might push out other naturally occurring bacteria, so the system could generally become less healthy," McClellan says.
McClellan says it's unclear how fish, birds and micro-organisms in the water are affected by sewage overflows. She says researchers are trying to find out. And she and her colleagues have plenty to keep them busy, especially after heavy rains.
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