We
have had some very heavy rains recently as we all know. During the
last two bouts of extremely heavy rain AQUA has been forced to take
the pressure off the system by pumping excess water out of the lines.
I have been told it was in order to avoid having sewer back-ups in
basements. True? I don't know. The manhole cover below the dam was
also spewing out water due to the extreme pressure.
If
it was just water it would be no problem, but these lines also carry
our sewer. We took test samples below the dam at the manhole and at another location
where there was pumping by AQUA. The test below the dam came back
extremely high in pollutants. Odds are the pumping area would have
had the same results but the lab accidentally only tested for
phosphorus, another thing we don't want in the lake.
What
does this mean? Obviously everyone should avoid any standing water in
ditches or anywhere for that matter for a while. We don't want
people, or animals for that matter becoming ill from ingesting this.
Don't let the kids play in the water in the ditches as they like to
do.
Steps
are being taken to stop this from happening in the future but
remedies may take time. This is not the first time this has happened
and the IEPA is aware of the situation. I will try to keep you up on
any developments as they occur.
Ken