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Disconnecting and Redirecting Your Sump Pump and Downspouts

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Disconnecting and Redirecting Your Sump Pump and Downspouts City of Pueblo It is where the sump pump discharges that Wastewater Department maybe illegal, not the sump pump itself. Emergency Telephone Numbers for Sewer Problems Sump pumps are used to pump groundwater During the business day: 553-2898 to the outside of the basement of buildings. Disconnecting and This groundwater may be discharged to exte- At Night, on weekends or holidays: rior yard, nearby catch basin or storm drain. 553-2502 Redirecting your Sump A sump pump is considered illegal when connected to the sanitary waste piping City crews are on 24 hour standby, Pump and Downspouts (sewer). including weekends and holidays. Maintenance City of Pueblo Sump systems, similar to backwater sanitary Wastewater Department valves, are not maintenance free. In order to best protect your home from flood damage, Nancy Keller, Wastewater Director ................ 553-2894 follow the pump manufacturer’s recommen- dations for servicing and maintenance of your Leon Marquez, Collection Supervisor .............. 320-2900 pumps. John Lindstrom, Water Reclamation Facility Superintendent ....................................................... 553-2866 Sump pump discharge lines need to be In a community of a couple hundred homes, it Sonia Mondragon, Engineering Manager .......... 553-2890 equipped with a check valve which prevents only takes a few improperly connected sump pumps working in wet weather to cause a the water contained in the pipe above the On The Web sanitary sewer backup into basements, streets, sump pump from flowing back into the sump and waterways. http://www.pueblo.us/wastewater when it shuts off. Environmental impacts EPA requirements for selenium and sul- fate Why Sump Pumps Shouldn’t Wastewater treatment systems that are in place today were built to keep waterways clean for you The Pierre Shale formation that underlies Discharge to the City Sewer to use. Preventing sewage overflows keeps our the City of Pueblo contains large amounts rivers clean and healthy. Keeping inflow out of of selenium and sulfate causing high con- Discharging a sump pump into the city’s sani- your wastewater system can reduce negative im- centrations in the groundwater. When tary sewer system might seem like an easier pacts to the environment. When the wastewater this groundwater enters the collection and more attractive option than running a system becomes over system though infiltration or sump pumps, discharge tube from the sump pump to the capacity due to inflow it causes the Pueblo Water Reclamation Facility to exceed the stream standards exterior, but it is illegal. there is not only the potential for sewage to adopted by Colorado Water Quality Con- There are numerous reasons why property back up into homes trol Commission to meet EPA require- owners should care about inflow from illegal and businesses, but ments. connections. These include impacts to your also for overflows into home and environment, increases in fees or the roads, drainage Treatment for both parameters are tech- nically challenging, expensive and have utility rates, and tradeoffs with other invest- areas and streams. ments in your community. unacceptable environmental consequenc- Increased fees/utility rates es. Property Impacts Like our roads, wastewater systems are designed It is imperative that the citizens Property owners can be directly impacted in to handle the peak capacity – heavy rainfall for work with the city to keep ground- terms of health and property damage. A sewers is like rush hour for roads. To provide water out of the sanitary sewer to sewer system that is over capacity because enough sewer capacity for now and future genera- reduce the potential that Pueblo will of inflow can lead to sewer backups into the tions, the sewer pipes and treatment facilities are be required to build this very expen- basement of your or your neighbor’s home. designed for those peak flows. The more clear sive treatment to meet the stream Sewer backups can result in health risks water entering the system, the bigger all those standards. Please do your part by from wet and contaminated basements as facilities need to be and the more they cost. Re- verifying that your sump pump and well as thousands of dollars of damage that ducing the peak flow caused by excessive inflow perimeter drains are not connected can take weeks or means communities and the region can spend less to the sanitary sewer. longer to repair. on those larger pipes and treatment plants. Insurance does not always cover sewer backups, so the costs of repairs can fall to property owners. You can do a quick inspection of your sump pump piping to ensure that the water is go- ing outside. The sump pump should dis- charge to either the storm sewer (if a dedi- cated storm lateral is available) or better, to the lawn, at least 20 feet away from the home, for infiltration. Never direct water onto a street, alley, right of way, easement or neighboring property. .
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