Considerations for Creating a Sanitary Sewer Overflow Initiative (Source: Water & Wastes Digest)

By Charles Shumate

Every year, the city of Beaumont, which lies on Texas’ coastal plain, is hit by intense thunderstorms with extended periods of rain over large areas. During peak storm events, the city’s wastewater system experiences a surge in flows due to infiltration and inflow (I&I). Additionally, Beaumont has aging wastewater infrastructure that has deteriorated and a flat, low-lying terrain that exacerbates the I&I problem. Due to this perfect storm of age and geography, the city has experienced sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events over the last few years.

In 2017, the city of Beaumont addressed this issue and entered into a five-year sanitary sewer overflow initiative (SSOI) with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Subsequently, the city hired Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. (LAN), a national planning, engineering and program management firm, as program manager to evaluate its wastewater collection system and provide recommendations to mitigate SSOs.