Columbus provides sewer services to
much of central Ohio, 1.1 out of 1.5 million people.
Billions of gallons of raw sewage are discharged from
the system each year without treatment.
There are four ways that raw sewage is released:
Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) are releases of
undiluted sewage from manholes or pipes; Columbus
reported 535 SSOs in 2004 from 96 locations.
Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
occur when sewage mixed with storm water is released.
In January 2005, the city reported almost one billion
gallons combined sewer overflow from just one site.
Bypasses occur when the treatment plants divert
untreated sewage into the rivers; in January 2005
Columbus treatment plants bypassed about 1 ˝ billion
gallons.
Basement backups of
raw sewage can occur when the sewer system is
overloaded. In 2004, there were about 3,200 reports of
basement backups from about 2,000 addresses; the city
accepted responsibility for 508. In January 2005, there
were 1,200 reports from 880 addresses.
The Sierra Club is working for:
Cleaner Waters:
Eliminating sanitary sewer overflows and basement
backups. Reducing combined sewer overflows and treatment
plant bypasses.
Relief for Basement Backup
Sufferers: Customer service must be provided
with information on health hazards and clean up,
documenting damages, how to determine the cause, and
prevent future backups.
Equitable Sewer Rates:
Sewer rates are calculated by water usage. Lower rates
should be given to low water users, not to high water
users. Ratepayers need incentives for conservation,
while low-income families need to be given a way to
reduce their utility burden. Columbus needs to charge
appropriate amounts to large users such as Anheuser
Busch. The public must also have good information on how
its utility monies will be spent, and opportunity to
affect decision making.
Fair Development:
Developers must pay for the full cost of sewer line
extensions, and costs of increased treatment in the
future.
Adequate Treatment Capacity:
Columbus must increase its sewage treatment capacity to
handle the sewage it now receives and projected future
increases. It must plan for full treatment, not rely on
partial treatment or no treatment approaches.
Contact Us Today for a Presentation to Your Community Group
A Columbus Foundation grant is helping the Sierra Club offer a slide
show to civic, religious, neighborhood and other organizations. The
program explains how sewers and stormwater affect your streams
and neighborhoods. Find out what you can do to reduce
stormwater runoff and how to deal with basement sewage
backups. There are exciting success stories. Contact .
Volunteer in Our Sewers Campaign
The Sewers Committee meets on the third Wednesday of most months from
6:30-7:30 pm at the Clintonville Community Resources Center, 14 W.
Lakeview Ave. For more information on meetings or other ways to get
involved, such as contributing organizing, engineering, or other
expertise, contact .
The Sewers Campaign Needs Your Financial Support!
The City of Columbus is spending billions on bringing Columbus into
compliance with the Clean Water Act, largely in response to the work of
the Central Ohio Sierra Club. We are the only organization that has put
major efforts into this area. Now we are working to see that this
money is spent in the most economically and environmentally beneficial
way. Basement backup relief is needed, now.
New
developments must pay for their sewer extensions. Additional
developments should not be added at the edge of town without adequate
planning—taking in more sewage from uncontrolled development makes no
sense when Columbus cannot handle the sewage it has currently.
Funding for our campaign and coordinator takes money, and this comes
from you, our local donors. Please consider helping us with this effort.
Make out a tax-deductible check to The Sierra Club Foundation and mail
it to:
Sierra Club Treasurer
9357 Chester Dr.
Pickerington, OH 43147
(Sierra Club responses to proposals by
the Columbus Division of Sewerage and Drainage, Ohio
EPA, Ohio Dept. of Transportation, and other governmental
entities)
