Smoke testing taking place in downtown Columbia, University of Missouri campus Wednesday

Columbia drivers in the downtown area and around the MU campus could expect some delays and lane closures Wednesday morning as crews will be doing smoke testing of sewer lines.

These tests are used to identify issues in the sewer system and may cause artificial smoke to leak into buildings or onto streets.

While this artificial smoke is non-toxic, non-staining, odorless and white to gray in color, it may set off smoke alarms in buildings using visual detection.

Testing will begin west of Providence Road and north of E. Ash Street, progress southeast through downtown, south through the University of Missouri campus, then southwest along Flat Branch Creek.

The city says the smoke testing will identify issues with the infrastructure where water is entering the sanitary sewer system. Removing these defects will reduce inflow and infiltration of stormwater into the sewer system and therefore reduce the occurrence of sewer backups and wet-weather overflows.