St. Charles might crack down on illegal sewer hookups

With a move toward EPA-mandated investigations looming on the horizon, St. Charles is taking steps to solve a problem that literally sends nearly $1.7 million down the drain every year. The result may be the end of illegal stormwater drainage connections into the sanitary sewer.

When stormwater gets into the sanitary sewer, the result is more time, labor and chemical management needed to maintain the system, sparking the additional costs. City officials say recent studies show the downtown area has chronic problems with rain eventually seeping into the sanitary system either through cracks in the pipes or, more likely, homes with sump pumps illegally draining into a sanitary line. While the illegal hookup might keep a backyard from being soggy, it might also contribute to sanitary system backups into basements during a major storm.

The city estimates about 460 million gallons of clean water makes its way into the city's sanitary system each year. Aging pipes do not help the problem, said Public Works Engineering Manager Jim Bernahl.

"It's only going to keep getting worse," Bernahl said. "Costs for treating this are only going to go up."

That is unless the city works to hunt down and correct the illegal hookups and seal the cracks in the pipes with special liners or pipe replacements. The city is gearing up to do more monitoring of the system and more searching for flaws via smoke and dye testing in the near future.