Rainfall Friday morning set work on a sanitary sewer line which failed earlier in the week back slightly, however, a temporary fix is now in place.
The 36-inch line crosses a stream that feeds into the Cottonwood River. Officials believe the line was already compromised before failing Wednesday when the north streambank washed away several feet from the anchor point. Scott Gumfory of the Waste Water Treatment Plant tells KVOE News crews managed to split a pipe and pour concrete to form a trough to allow the sewage to flow properly between pipes. Sewage is no longer flowing into the stream.
Gumfory reiterates this is just a temporary fix, and heavy rainfall could set the work back, however, it would take a sizeable rainfall to do so. Plans are to hopefully have work begin on a permanent fix by the early half of this week, weather permitting.
The failure prompted the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to issue a stream advisory for the Cottonwood at Emporia and connecting tributaries for the increased risk of bacteria and other contaminants. That advisory is in place until further notice. Residents and pets should not go into the creek until it’s deemed safe.
Gumfory is hopeful they will begin sampling the water at some point this week. Once the samples are shown to have no trace of elevated bacteria or contaminates the stream advisory will be rescinded.
Stay with KVOE and KVOE.com for more updates
