All You Wanted to Know About Private Service Laterals (And Then Some)!

摘要

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) estimates that between 23,000 and 75,000sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events occur per year in the U.S. (excluding basement backups)(US EPA, 2004). Regulatory authorities are increasingly requiring wastewater utilities toeliminate such overflow events. One approach to eliminating SSOs is to reduce the entry ofinflow and infiltration (I/I) into the sewer system. If removing public I/I sources alone is notenough, wastewater utilities are faced with the dilemma of either constructing large storagestructures or going onto private property to remove private I/I sources. In some cities, it isestimated that as much as 60% of the flow that overfills their sanitary sewers comes from serviceconnections (US EPA, 1996).Recognizing the challenges that prevent many utilities from implementing sanitary sewer lateralrelatedprograms, the Water Environment Federation’s Collection Systems Committee hasdeveloped an online virtual library website, the Private Property Virtual Library (PPVL),dedicated to private property-related issues that are encountered by many wastewater utilities. Inaddition, the PPVL project team presented the workshop “Private Service Laterals: What To Do,When, Why, How, and With What?” at WEFTEC.10~?. The workshop addressed the followingtopics:1. The importance of defining ownership and maintenance/repair responsibilities.2. How to prevent sewer backflows (surcharging) and backups into buildings and what to dowhen they occur.3. Examples of successful lateral repair and replacement mechanisms.4. An overview of the current regulatory climate regarding backups/backflows and sanitarysewer overflows that occur on private property.Additionally, information on navigating the PPVL is provided.