Wheaton pursuing plan to fix sanitary sewer backups

A solution to a problem that defiles hundreds of basements and roadways in Wheaton during heavy rains is on the way.

Sewage backups in the city are both messy and a violation of the Federal Clean Water Act. City staff believe a $26 million plan and 25 years of construction will fix the problem.

The sanitary district will be responsible for about $20 million of the project.

Meanwhile, the city will handle about $6 million of the work and complete its segment within the next decade.

Property owners will fund the project. The city's portion will cost at least $575,000 a year. That may increase with inflation as the years go by.

A sewer rate increase of 25 cents per 100 cubic feet of water usage would fund the first four years of the city's program. The rate increase would fall to 20 cents per 100 cubic feet of water usage in the fifth and sixth years of the project.

Or, the city may decide to use a flat, per-customer rate of $3.70 per month for eight years of the project.

Either of those plans would generate the funds needed, barring unforeseen costs.

The project may very well cost more than projected, not just because of inflation, but because the plan is somewhat of a sanitary witch hunt.

The idea is to eliminate all the cracks and connections into the system that result in stormwater pushing the sanitary lines beyond capacity when it rains. Doing that and relieving bottlenecks in the system should increase the flow and prevent the backups. But there's a risk involved.

"If we release a bottleneck here, are we creating a bottleneck someplace else? That's the outside risk," said Paul Redman, Wheaton's director of engineering.

Most of the work will involve pipe replacement north of Roosevelt Road, in the older portions of the city. That will involve tearing up roads and paths along the sanitary sewer lines.

"Some of these will be very invasive to homeowners property along the route," Redman said. "There's going to be some significant disruption to our existing infrastructure."

The work would coincide with already-slated road repairs wherever possible. The city expects the plan will bring relief to hundreds of homeowners.