Overview of the Problem
As is the case with most northeastern communities, the Johnstown Regional Sewage System is antiquated. National statistics show that urbanized areas must soon address deteriorating or inadequate infrastructure such as that present in our local communities.
The problem itself lies in sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and combined sewer overflows (CSOs). A sanitary sewer overflow is the discharge of raw or inadequately treated sewage from municipal separate sanitary sewer systems. A combined sanitary sewer overflow is the discharge of raw or inadequately treated sewage from a combined sewer system. During both SSOs and CSOs, raw sewage may be released into basements, city streets, properties, rivers, and streams. Most overflows are associated with wet weather conditions.
When the sun is shining, the sewage collection system, which transports wastewater from thousands of homes to the wastewater treatment plant, operates effectively.
But when it rains or snow melts, extra stormwater gets into the sewage collection system through direct connections or through leaky, cracked pipes. This extra volume of water overloads the sewage collection system pipes and raw sewage overflows before it reaches the treatment plant – into your basements, streets, rivers, and streams. To help mitigate the problem, the JRA has installed 32 state-of-the-art Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) modules in the pure oxygen reactors. While this does not increase the capacity of the overall treatment plant, this system allows the reactor components to recover more quickly from storm related surge flows. It also reduces the loading on the clarifiers, allowing the overall plant to continue producing a higher quality effluent during non-rain periods. But the new IFAS system alone will not solve the problem.
One of our neighboring communities, Allegheny County, is currently experiencing similar wet weather issues. A non-profit organization, Three Rivers Wet Weather, was formed to improve the quality of Allegheny County's water resources by helping communities address the issue of untreated sewage and stormwater overflowing into the region's waterways.