One sewer pipe means big problems for some Elgin neighborhoods
Though it's been a problem in Elgin for years, the use of combined sewers in older neighborhoods has been brought back to the forefront recently by torrential rains and residents seeking the city's help.
The sewers, a system where both sanitary waste and storm runoff feed into one large pipe, are located primarily in neighborhoods established before the 1950s.
In some areas, they work just fine. But in others, they make homes more susceptible to flooding.
Recent rains overwhelmed the combined sewer in the South West Area Neighbors section of town, leading to sewage backups in basements and prompting some SWAN members to mobilize and ask the city to fix the problem now.
"We didn't create this faulty engineering. This is their problem and we expect them to fix it," said Mike Curtin, whose basement flooded with sewage last month.
City staff members at 6 p.m. Wednesday night will present council members with a report on how combined sewers came to be, what city areas they impact and what Elgin can do to fix them.
Elgin City Manager Sean Stegall said it could cost $150 million to lay new pipes in affected areas of the city.
About $20 million has been spent in the last 10 to 15 years adding new pipes in concert with street reconstruction projects, he said.
But with the city looking to save money anywhere it can during the recession, a large-scale solution seems far off.
"It's easy to identify the problem, very difficult to identify the solution," Stegall said. "Being more aggressive, spending more money? Sure (that could help). There's other (projects) that have to be set aside to do that."
City officials estimate about 12.5 percent of homes - roughly one in eight - have infrastructure that feeds into a combined sewer pipe.
But David Lawry, the city's general services director, said the exact percentage or number of homes is not known yet, and not all homes with combined sewers will flood.
One immediate suggestion has been for the city to increase its share of an "overhead sewer" grant program from 50 percent to 75 or event 100 percent.
An overhead sewer is standard with new construction, but retrofitting the pipe into the basement of an older home can cost up to $10,000.
Under the city program, a homeowner can get reimbursed for half, up to $5,000.
Curtin believes the city should assume 100 percent of the costs because the problem is one of infrastructure, not with the home itself.
Councilman John Prigge went to a neighborhood meeting organized by the Curtins last Friday that drew about 20 other residents.
"These people have extremely legitimate concerns and I have said since day one said this is our responsibility," Prigge said, adding that city leaders' past claims that the flooding was an "Act of God" won't cut it anymore.
"You can't expect people to buy that line and give them no horizon to look forward to as to when (the sewer pipes) will be replaced," he said. "My personal feeling is we have to treat it before we can cure it. This is a health and safety issue."