Infiltration Issues

Sewer Surcharge

Sewer surcharge refers to the overloading of the sewer beyond its design capacity due to inflow and infiltration of water. What this means is that the lines are full and cannot take anymore sewage.

Attempting to flush when a sewer system is surcharged is only going to create overflows at some open point in the system. 

Sometimes these open points are intentional such as removing a cleanout or “candy cane” during a heavy rain.  Sometimes these points are breaks in sewer lines at connections or underground.

When the system finally gets to go back to normal these overflow points then become inflow and infiltration points which continue to create problems for the system and could lead to pump failures within the collection system or the sewer.

Below is a picture of one of the sewer pumps at Vacuum Station #2.  Once this pump failed our ability to pump sewer out from the collection system was cut in half.  One of the items stuck in the impeller is a piece of PVC pipe.  This debris is not part of what gets flushed into the system but probably made its way into the sewer lines through and open clean-out or candy cane. 

The system was designed to handle the domestic sewer generated by the residents of Port O’Connor and is constantly upgraded to accommodate growth.  However, it was not designed to drain peoples yards, RV Parks, patio drains, outdoor fish cleaning tables, outdoor showers, etc.  District personnel will be working more diligently to identify what goes into our sewer systems to ensure it is within the POCID Rules and Regulations.

We really appreciate your patience during this heavy rainfall event as we continue to identify and correct any problems out in the field.  If you see anything on your property or out in the community that might look like a potential overflow point, please call the POCID office @ 361-983-2652.