Yet another city is in the news this week for its combined sewer overflow situation—and more specifically, how to pay for fixing it. Officials in Portland, Maine, have committed $94 million to the problem already and are guessing they’ll need at least $170 million more before they’re through.
Although there has been much discussion of using green infrastructure to reduce stormwater management costs, and particularly to remedy CSOs, that’s not the only means of dealing with the problem. For the last 18 years, Portland has been working on separating its storm and sanitary sewer systems—taking advantage of road reconstruction projects to do some of the work while excavation was already underway—and has considered “store and send” methods that are being used in other communities around the state, detaining stormwater temporarily to avoid overwhelming wastewater treatment plants that receive input from combined sewer systems.
As this article points out, 772 communities in the US have CSO problems, with more than 8,700 CSO outfalls nationwide. Thirty-two of those communities are in Maine, which has 163 CSO outfalls—less than half the number it had 20 years ago, however. Portland, the state’s largest city, accounts for more than 40% of the state’s total CSO discharges.
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Upcoming Forester University Webinars
May 9th, 2012
Making Erosion Control BMPs Work on Construction Sites
Your erosion control BMPs meet regulation, but are they practical? Join Jerald S. Fifield, Ph.D., PH, CISEC, CPESC andTina R. Evans, PE, CISEC for the fourth installment of our advanced ediment and Erosion Control Master Class Series, Making Erosion Control BMPs Work on Construction Sites, exploring the available erosion control methods and diversion structures, as well as how to develop seed mixtures, calculate fertilizer rates, and evaluate TRMs in drainage channels.
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May 17th, 2012
Effective LID Stormwater Reduction
Improve your stormwater reduction through effective low impact design (LID). Join Douglas Beyerlein, P.E., P.H., D.WRE to explore the different types of LID (e.g., green roofs, rain gardens / bioretention, impervious runoff dispersion, etc.), how they work
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May 31st, 2012
How to Calculate Water Audit Payback Periods and Write Water Audit Reports
Maximize your payback! Join Troy Aichele, LEED AP (O+M) of Aichele and Associates LLC for How to Calculate Water Audit Payback Periods and Write Audit Reports on Thurs., May 31st addressing the most essential skill in water auditing: how to calculate payback period and incorporate it effectively in your water audit report. Within this discussion, Aichele will explore how to calculate water audit improvement periods using a custom-built payback spreadsheet calculator; how to calculate use rates; how to incorporate savings, rebates and utility increases into your payback calculations; and how to write a water audit report letter incorporating water audit results and payback periods.
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April 18th, - May 25th, 2012
Sediment and Erosion Control
Master Class Series
Join industry expert and bestselling author Jerald S. Fifield, Ph.D., CISEC, CPESC and Tina R. Evans, PE, CISEC for a comprehensive 6-part online master class and workshop series (0.9 CEUs / 9 PDHs) exploring the ins and outs of effective sediment and erosion control plan design and review based on Fifield’s recently released 3rd edition of the bestselling manual Designing and Reviewing Effective Sediment and Erosion Control Plans (included in your Master Class Series package).
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April – May 2012
Water Auditing Master Series
3-Webinar Series
Learn the ins-and-outs of water auditing! Join 2010’s Speaker of the Year, Troy Aichele, LEED AP (O+M) of Aichele and Associates LLC for the Water Auditing Master Series, a 3-part webinar/webcast series focusing on getting you up-to-speed on the key attributes, uses, and opportunities in water auditing, as demonstrating step-by-step how to conduct a water audit, avoid the pitfalls, calculate payback periods, and incorporate these into your reports.
Series includes:
* Water Auditing 101: Introduction to Water Auditing
* How to Conduct a Water Audit and Avoid the Pitfalls
* How to Calculate Water Audit Payback Periods and Write Water Audit Reports
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