Weather, illegal sump pumps to blame for northwestern Weber sewer overflow
Justin Caldwell's home can be seen behind a portable toilet on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West. Sewage flowed through his basement reaching a height of 18 inches from Tuesday to Sunday. Portable toilets were not supplied to residents until Saturday, according to Caldwell.
Sewage flowed from this drain for six days at Justin Caldwell's home in Farr West. The carpet, furnace, hot water heater and soft water tank are some of the items that have to be replaced. The rooms included two children's' rooms, a bathroom and his wife's salon.
Justin Caldwell poses for a portrait outside of his home on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West. Sewage flowed through his basement, reaching a height of 18 inches for six days. The carpet, furnace, hot water heater and soft water tank are some of the items that have to be replaced. The rooms included two children's' rooms, a bathroom and his wife's salon.
Justin Caldwell shows some of the progress made cleaning up the 18 inches of sewage that flowed through his basement for six days on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West. The carpet, furnace, hot water heater and soft water tank are some of the items that have to be replaced. The rooms included two children's' rooms, a bathroom and his wife's salon.
Justin Caldwell shows some of the progress made cleaning up the 18 inches of sewage that flowed through his basement for six days on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West.
Justin Caldwell shows some of the progress made cleaning up the 18 inches of sewage that flowed through his basement for six days on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West.
Justin Caldwell shows some of the progress made cleaning up the 18 inches of sewage that flowed through his basement for six days on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West.
FARR WEST — For almost a full week, Justin Caldwell experienced sewage flooding the basement of his Farr West home, which he said caused an estimated $75,000 in damage so far.
“For six days in a row, I had human feces all over my floor,” Caldwell said Monday. “I can’t even live in it now.”
His home bore the brunt of unusually wet weather conditions that also impacted another 25-30 houses in the area bordering Farr West and Plain City. On Monday, the frustrated homeowner demanded answers from members of the board that oversees the Central Weber Sewer Improvement District.
RELATED: Amid widespread flooding concerns, Farr West folks wrestle with backed up sewage
“Why did no one from this district even come and check anything?” Caldwell asked, noting that city officials and workers from Farr West and Plain City arrived on scene, but no one ever offered to bring him pumps. “We had to round it all up ourselves, it took them three days before they did anything.”
Caldwell’s neighbor, Nick Favero, also spoke on his behalf.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research and I’ve heard a lot about artesian wells, I’ve heard they’ve been land-drained, not capped,” Favero said. “I need to know if there’s any truth in what I’m hearing. That whole area used to be nothing but swamp so that water’s gotta be going somewhere.”
Favero’s question was outside the district’s domain, but General Manager Lance Wood detailed their extensive response to the freakish combination of events that led to massive flooding and seeping sewage in northwestern Weber County.
“We did have the beginning of a storm on Feb. 7 and everything blends into one big, long day for four days,” Wood said, adding that reports of flooding began filtering in the next day.
“And it’s not just the storm that caused the problem. We had significant snowpack on the ground, and we have a high groundwater level,” Wood said. “That compounded with the warm weather of the storm and the rain — we were just inundated with water and a lot of that water got into the sanitary sewer, and that’s the beginning of our problem. Our system isn’t designed to handle storm water.”
On Thursday, Feb. 9, Wood said they contacted Water Movers in desperation, requesting an additional pump. With that pump they also had to lay out 4,000 feet of pipe to transport water to the district’s plant.
His crews spent that day installing the extra pump in Farr West pump station #2 and stringing the pipe over 3/4 of a mile. By evening the extra pump began doing its work — “but the storm continued,” Wood said. “We actually didn’t start to catch up until Sunday night.”
That pause between storms meant that, in pump stations #2 and #3, only one of three district pumps now continue to run. And the additional standby pump, rented for a month, remains onsite in case of another storm.
Wood quantified the magnitude of the flows the District suddenly faced at 10 times the average for this time of year. Normally the daily average would be about 800,000 gallons per day — but this storm event produced a flow of eight million gallons per day, Wood said.
Story continues below image.
BRIANA SCROGGINS/Standard-Examiner
Justin Caldwell shows some of the progress made cleaning up the 18 inches of sewage that flowed through his basement for six days on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Farr West.
Getting the scoop on the poop
But there are no easy answers as to why the toilet in Caldwell’s basement overflowed for days on end.
Washington Terrace Mayor Mark Allen, who chairs the district’s board, said the district is set up to handle two to three times its normal flow — but the sheer magnitude of sanitary sewer flow 10 times its typical size overwhelmed capacity.
“That flow is not coming from flushing toilets, taking showers or running your dishwasher, so there’s something gong on that adds 10 times the flow to our system,” Allen said.
Several city officials who sit on the district’s board mentioned the proliferation of illegal sump pumps in area homes that occupy land prone to high ground water and flooding. Such pumps are illegal because they release flow into the indoor sanitary sewer system rather than the storm drain outside the home.
“Sump pumps are an issue and people have to know that,” Allen said.
Wood also cited calculations to illustrate the potential impact of small sump pumps that displace 10 gallons per minute. “That is equivalent to the normal household discharge from 50 homes, if it runs 24/7. They can do that during times of high ground water. That gives you a little bit of the magnitude of sump pumps.”
Pleasant View Mayor Toby Mileski, also a district board member, said that illegal sump pumps had been discussed six to eight months ago.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to having some type of subcommittee that looked at a way to really nail that down,” Mileski said. “It’s on us to look at those sump pump connections, not necessarily Central Weber.”
The illegal pumps are somewhat commonplace, Mileski added, and installation often occurs after the home’s building inspection has taken place.
North Ogden Mayor and district board member Brent Taylor urged formation of a subcommittee tasked with determining whether sump pumps are indeed the culprit — and then to come up with solutions.
Even though state law prohibits their installation, sewer Improvement districts lack power to police illegal sump pumps. And Wood said he’s unaware of the enforcement of any fines associated with violating that portion of the code.
Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck.
Government
Seven residents apply to fill vacancy on Harrisville City Council
Ogden City Council to interview applicants, appoint new council member July 21
