Last month, sanitary sewer systems in Manatee County, Fla., overflowed after too much rain infiltrated pipes.
According to the Bradenton Herald, initial estimates said that more than 1,000 gal of water and wastewater spilled, however new updates to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection show that more than 100,000 gal were released, and some of it may have ended up in the Manatee River. Samples from the river were collected and reported to the Florida Department of Health.
Nearly a dozen sanitary sewer system overflows were reported over the span of a few days in August when several inches of rain fell across the county and caused the collection system to surcharge, according to the Bradenton Herald.
On Aug. 15, Manatee County Lift Stations staff was alerted of a potential sanitary sewer overflow where waste water was spilling through a manhole and into a storm drain, the Bradenton Herald reports. An updated report later showed that an estimated 75,000 gal of discharge could have impacted Manatee River.
The next day, Aug. 16, a report came in of waste water flowing into a manhole and then into a storm drain and another came in of waste water flowing into a manhole and then a canal. Together, those two reports showed an estimated 9,200 gal of discharge with a potential impact to the river, according to the Bradenton Herald.
On Aug. 16, the largest overflow of the reports came in when the Manatee County Collection System staff was alerted of a potential sanitary sewer overflow where wastewater was discharging through a manhole and then flowing into a storm water drain, the Bradenton Herald reports. This report shows that an estimated 117,000 gal was discharged and potentially impacting storm water detention ponds.
The DEP is now analyzing information of the reported incidents to evaluate if there were any violations.
“Department of Environmental Protection is actively investigating multiple spills that occurred from Manatee County wastewater sites in the month of August,” an email statement from Shannon Herbon, public information manager for the Florida DEP to The Bradenton Herald said. “We are working to obtain and review all necessary information and data to complete our regulatory review.
The quote continued by saying that the DEP is working to determine causes and possible solutions to prevent unauthorized discharges in the future.
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