Stormwater Detention?

Each year many gallons of storm water improperly drain into the Lake Mills public sanitary sewer system. This contributes to overloading the sanitary sewer system, which may cause back-ups and health related issues. Various studies that the City has performed in the past have shown an increase in rain storm induced flows which seem to be caused by various illegal connections. An illegal connection is a connection that permits extraneous storm-related water to enter the sanitary sewer system. The extraneous storm-related water is water that should be going to the storm sewer or allowed to soak into the ground without entering the sanitary sewer.
The sanitary sewers have been designed to transfer sanitary waste only. Extraneous storm-related water flow added to the normal sanitary flow can exceed the capacity of the sanitary sewer resulting in a situation where the sanitary sewer is "surcharged." Basically, surcharging occurs when the amount of flow trying to get through a pipe exceeds the maximum capacity of the pipe thus building up pressure in the pipe. When pressure builds up, it seeks to relieve itself through any means possible; one of which is by backing up into private sanitary services and filling basements and crawlspaces. Reducing the extraneous flow will reduce the future potential of surcharging and sewer back-ups.