sewage bypass

20 days, 10 pumps and 448 million gallons of sewage-contaminated water flushed into Mississippi

For 20 days beginning May 27, Bettendorf continuously ran 10 pumps along its riverfront to flush 448 million gallons of sewage-contaminated water into the Mississippi River.

The latest Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) "Event" was again the result of rain and flood water clogging the main sewer interceptor line to the Davenport Waste Water Treatment Plant.

To prevent the treatment plant was being inundated with the huge flows and avoid sewage back-ups to businesses and homes along the Bettendorf/Riverdale riverfront, gates to the main sewer line were closed May 27.

Heavy rains prompt additional sewage overflows; sewage treatment plant once again over capacity

Heavy rain in November and December prompted yet another series of "sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events" in Bettendorf, resulting in more than 17 million gallons of untreated sewage and storm water being pumped into the Mississippi River.

With the additional sewage bypasses in the last two months of the year, Bettendorf operated pumps along the riverfront a total of 15 days during 2015 and dumped a total of more than 46 million gallons of the storm water and raw sewage into the river.

Davenport plant discharges 132 million gallons of partially treated sewage into Mississippi River

The amount of partially treated sewage dumped into the Mississippi River by Davenport's Sewage Treatment Plant last month totaled more than 136 million gallons.

The so-called "bypassed" sewage received only primary – not secondary – treatment because flows to the plant on Concord Street were beyond its capacity as storm water runoff infiltrated sewer lines after heavy rains.

As the sewage flows backed up in lines to the treatment plant, Bettendorf pumped more than 29 million gallons of sewage and storm water into the river after the heavy rains in late June and early July.

Latest sewage bypass lasted four days and totaled 18.4 million gallons pumped into Mississippi River

Bettendorf pumped 18.4 million gallons of untreated sewage mixed with storm water into the Mississippi River over a four-day period earlier this month after heavy rain and high water clogged the main interceptor along the riverfront and flows overwhelmed the treatment capacity of the Davenport/Bettendorf sewage treatment plant.

Pumps along the riverfront operated from June 14 through June 18, transferring back-up in the sewer lines into storm water pipes that empty into the river.

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