Our first sewers were designed more than 100 years ago to carry both stormwater and sewage from homes and businesses. During dry weather, sewage flows safely through our sewers to the Greater Peoria Sanitary District wastewater treatment plant. However, more than 28 times a year the sewers are overwhelmed by incoming rainwater or melting snow, causing untreated sewage to overflow into the Illinois River.

Peoria built its first sewers in the late 1800s to carry rainwater and melting snow away from homes, businesses and streets. When indoor plumbing came later, homeowners and business owners hooked their sewage lines to those same sewers, combining stormwater and sewage together in one pipe. This was standard practice in many U.S. cities at the time, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. By 1931, the combined sewers were connected to the new Greater Peoria Sanitary District treatment plant through a new riverfront interceptor sewer. However, the old sewers still retained their ability to overflow when sewage levels get too high. If they didn’t have this escape valve, raw sewage would back up into people’s basements and streets. In new neighborhoods today, we avoid this problem by building separate sewers for stormwater and sewage.

Raw sewage in the river is a health hazard, hurts our environment and harms efforts to revitalize the Peoria Riverfront. Raw sewage carries bacteria, viruses, parasites and other pathogens. Other pollutants typically found in sewer overflows include oxygen-depleting substances, suspended solids, toxic substances, nutrients, trash and debris. According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, full-body contact recreation (swimming, Jet Skiing, water skiing, etc.) is impaired due to bacteria contamination.

The City is developing a long-term control plan to reduce combined sewer overflows and meet Clean Water Act requirements. Our goal is to find the most cost-effective way to meet state and federal requirements and build a more sustainable community.

City engineers are reviewing the existing conditions of the sewer system, treatment plant and the river. They are examining a variety of proven methods for reducing overflows, including reducing stormwater inflow, using the existing sewer system more effectively, building overflow storage facilities and expanding treatment capacity. The City is also considering so-called “green” solutions to our sewer and stormwater problems. Some of these ideas are rain gardens, porous pavements and other solutions that hold rainwater back more naturally. While the green solutions can’t replace the need to expand our existing sewer system, they may be part of the solution. The City will evaluate viable options based on their costs and benefits to the community and develop a workable schedule for implementing the plan. We also will involve the public in selecting a cost-effective and affordable plan that will meet Clean Water Act requirements.

Yes. Non-compliance with the Clean Water Act requirements will lead to major fines and penalties.

We have already begun to reduce sewer overflows. In 1986, the Illinois Water Pollution Control Board allowed the City to proceed with $10 million in projects to reduce sewer overflows. These projects included:

• Separating sewers in seven drainage basins by constructing either new sanitary or storm sewers to separate the combined flows.
• Constructing swirl concentrators at two locations to remove trash from overflows.
• Using a mile-long 60-inch and 48-inch diameter sewer to store excess flows until downstream capacity is available in the riverfront interceptor.
• Installing gates to control the amount of flow discharged to the interceptor sewer, and backflow valves to prevent the river from flowing into the interceptor sewers during flood conditions.
• Constructing treatment plant improvements and installing telemetry to monitor and report on sewer flows.

The City completed construction of these projects in 1994. Benefits included:

• Reducing the amount of trash discharging to the Illinois River downtown.
• Reducing bypasses of sewage to the river from 20 locations to an average of five locations, and from 31 times per year to an average of 28 times per year.
• Eliminating sewage bypasses at the treatment plant up to the 25-year flood level.

As with many regulatory requirements, rules that applied in the 1970s are no longer sufficient today. We are being required to achieve even greater overflow control. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which issues the City’s wastewater discharge permit, is requiring Peoria to examine its sewer overflows and prepare a long-term control plan to meet federal requirements.

Yes. According to U.S. EPA’s 2004 “Report to Congress on the Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs, 746 communities in the United States have combined sewer systems. More than half of them are found in four states: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The report stated that 86 percent of communities had been required by their permits to develop a long-term control plan, and that 59 percent had already submitted their plans. The largest combined sewer controls in Illinois are operated by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Chicago is capturing a substantial volume of sewer overflows with a system of deep tunnels and other projects that began in the 1970s. As a result, water quality in the Illinois River upstream of Peoria has improved. Now Peoria must do its part to further reduce sewer overflows.

Reducing sewer overflows will reduce the loading of pathogens and other pollutants into the Illinois River. Our plan will be required to reduce the volume and frequency of raw sewage overflows into the river. Although it won’t solve all the river’s problems or bring the river into complete compliance with the Clean Water Act, it will be a start toward a cleaner river and healthier riverfront.

No, the City’s plan will reduce pollution to the river but it won’t solve the siltation problem. With silt accumulation in the river and lake bottoms, Peoria Lakes have lost more than 60 percent of their volume since 1903, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. According to the Corps, loss of aquatic habitat due to sedimentation is the greatest threat to the healthy function of the Illinois River and Peoria Lake. In 2003, the Corps recommended a $15.2 million plan to address the sedimentation problems in the Peoria and LaGrange river pools, with costs to be shared by the federal and state governments. However, that plan has not yet been funded.

Funding the plan will not be easy. However, the long-term control plan is an investment in our future – a future with a cleaner river and a healthy riverfront. The community must agree on a cost-effective plan and funding mechanisms that are equitable, fair and affordable to residents, businesses and industry. The plan also will be implemented over time, spreading the costs according to the community’s ability to pay and the market’s ability to supply needed construction materials and contractors. The City also will seek to supplement local ratepayer funds by aggressively pursuing federal funds that may be available to support overflow control projects.

We all share responsibility for the health of the river and health of the community. Peoria is here because of the Illinois River. As a community, we need to protect it and stop dumping raw sewage into it. Also, it’s important to remember that when the City first built newer neighborhoods, people in older neighborhoods helped pay for some of the new infrastructure. Now it is time to bring the old sewers up to 21st century standards, and the entire community shares in that responsibility. Also many of our newer neighborhoods that have separated sewers discharge sewage into the combined sewers as part of the sewage's path to the treatment plant. Therefore these separate sewers are also contributing to the combined sewer overflow problem.

We agree that Peoria has many needs that must be addressed. However, we don’t have a choice in whether we will obey the Clean Water Act and our permit requirements. It’s better to keep our dollars here to improve the river than to send fines to Springfield and Washington, D.C.

The Greater Peoria Sanitary District treats the City’s sewage under a contractual agreement. However, the City of Peoria owns the sewers that make up its sewage collection system. Because the City owns the sewers, it is responsible for addressing the problem of sewer overflows. The district is working with the City to evaluate the problem and identify solutions. The City will be responsible for funding the solutions, even if they require expanding the District’s treatment capacity to treat more of Peoria’s sewage.

The City needs a broad range of citizens to help prepare a plan that is responsible to the community’s needs and concerns. The City is forming a Clean River Committee to provide advice and recommendations as the City studies the problem and develops its plan. If you want to be informed of committee meetings and public forums, please contact Jane Gerdes at City Hall, 494-8819. Your comments will always be welcome.

We need you to join us in solving the problem of raw sewage in the Illinois River. Everyone has a role: individual citizens, government, non-profit organizations, businesses, industry, and community groups. You can help by:

• Disconnecting your downspouts and sump pumps if they are connected to the sewer system.
• Reducing water use, especially during rainy weather.
• Inviting City representatives to make a presentation to your civic association or neighborhood group.
• Learning how you can reduce water use in your homes and businesses, and help keep pollution out of the storm drains.