Columbia summer sewer projects detailed

Columbia utility leaders will present its plans for sewer repairs and maintenance for the upcoming year.

The interested parties meeting took place Thursday at City Hall from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The meeting went over the “44,000 linear feet of sewer line, 400 manholes, and 310 lateral connection repairs” the city plans to tackle in 2017. Utility staff also believes it will finish the projects scheduled in sewer basins this fiscal year.

Staff believes the project will start this summer, delving into inflow and infiltration problems and rehabilitating sewer lines that are failing. A city council public hearing is scheduled for May.

Erin Keys, engineering manager for the sewer and stormwater division, said the projects would primarily be “trenchless,” requiring no road closures or digging to get to the pipes. The work will focus on lining the inside of the sewer mains, manholes and lateral connections with special material designed to stick to the pipe and extend its usefulness.

“For the most part, we won’t need to dig up streets and yards and things, we’ll be able to do all the work through the manhole,” Keys said.

The $2.7 million planned for the work would take place in the Flat Branch and County House Branch basins, approved by voters in a 2013 bond issue. Utility staff hope to complete all the work planned for the areas in central and west Columbia by the end of the summer.

Keys said cities across the country are trying to catch up with deteriorating sewer systems. The underground pipes remain out of sight, meaning they often remain a low priority for governments when it comes to maintenance of its infrastructure. Columbia had to close part of the MKT Trail in 2016 to repair a century-old portion of the Flat Branch sewer. Keys said the summer repairs planned are for lines around half that age, and don’t require excavation.

“That’s why we’re trying to address it now so it doesn’t get to that point,” Keys said. “Because it’s much more cost-effective to line these now.”

ABC 17 News has covered issues homeowners face in central Columbia with stormwater getting into sewers and backing into homes through improper connections to the sewer main. Old homes connect through places like sump pumps and downspouts, Keys said, but city ordinance now makes it illegal. Keys said the summer work will also tackle replacing miles of private sewer collectors that have been neglected, and replacing them with public lines.

“By eliminating ways for stormwater to get into the sanitary system, then we’re protecting human health,” Keys said.