Notice:
The City of El Paso is currently investigating why the flow of water into the Sanitary Sewer system has a dramatic increase during periods of high rainfall. This increase in water is more than our system can accommodate. During these storms, the sewer pumps are pushing eight times the normal amount of water to the lagoons at times. The system becomes overwhelmed and the result is flooding of basements in areas of town.
The City is taking the following actions to try to reduce the impact of storm water into the Sanitary sewer system.
- Ongoing surface water flow improvements by ditch grading and culvert cleaning to route storm water out of town.
- Evaluating manholes for proper height and raising them as needed to keep storm water out.
- Currently we are having a camera run up each City owned sewer line to check for damaged or broken lines along with other areas that may lead to Storm Water infiltration. This process is time consuming and costly, but the resulting information is proving to be very valuable.
- The City is also asking that all people check their sump pumps to make sure they are properly connected and NOT connected in any way that would send sump pump water into the sewer lines. Your sump pump should be either run out of the house and to the ditch or properly connected to the STORM sewer.
- City Employees will be going door to door to check each home over the next few weeks to confirm proper hook up. The city ordinance states that we can come to make that inspection as needed to ensure proper connection. Please call City Hall at (309) 527 4005 for an appointment to have your sump pump checked for proper connection.
Many people are impacted by storms that flood their homes. Please do your part and schedule a free inspection today.
Thank You,
Jack Hickok
Director of Public Service
El Paso, IL.