Tank may be shelved
as a fix for sewage woes

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The Philadelphia Water Department has done a "180" on its proposed and highly controversial sewage holding-tank project in the Far Northeast, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP on Friday received an updated "corrective action plan" from the water department regarding sewage spills into the Poquessing Creek in the city’s East Torresdale neighborhood, said spokesman Dennis Harney. The plan did not include the formerly proposed holding tank.
Also last week, water department officials insisted that the flow of suburban sewage into the city, along with new construction on both sides of the city line, should not be blamed for the overflowing sewer pipe, which is called the Poquessing Interceptor.
Further, the department announced the date and time of the next public meeting to discuss the sewage problem. It will be on July 12 at 6:30 p.m. in Holy Family University’s Education and Technology Center.
"The water department, in seeking a solution for the overflow situation in the Poquessing Interceptor, has proposed a corrective action plan," Harney told the Northeast Times on Friday. "One of the details of the (plan) was to install that overflow tank. They’ve revised their (plan) due to the unpopularity of the overflow tank and the new city ordinance."
The DEP has oversight of the water department’s corrective action plan under the terms of the federal Clean Streams Act. In response to Harney’s statement, the water department said it would present details of an updated "alternate proposal" at the July 12 public meeting, as well as new information about the earlier proposed holding tank.
The water department has said it first learned of sewage spills into the Poquessing Creek about two years ago. About six to 10 times a year during heavy rainfalls, a combination of storm water and raw sewage bursts from a maintenance manhole along a tributary creek behind the Nazareth Academy Grade School, at 4701 Grant Ave.
The site is also adjacent to the Holy Family University campus. The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth own and operate both educational institutions.
During just one storm in April, about 20 million gallons of storm water and untreated sewage spilled from the manhole.
The water department’s initial proposed solution was to install a 4.75-million-gallon underground tank on city parkland near Hegerman Street and St. Denis Drive. The buried tank was to be about the length of a football field and 100 feet wide. Hundreds of mature trees likely would have been cut down for the project.
The tank would drain itself when storm volumes in the sewer subside, the water department has said.
Area homeowners are against the idea. The East Torresdale Civic Association has voted unanimously in opposition, while residents of the Brookhaven section said they had collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition against the tank.
When the water department presented the tank plan at a June 7 meeting of the Friends of Poquessing Watershed, many neighbors vocally opposed the concept, citing concerns of foul odors, declining property values and park destruction.
City Council recently passed unanimously a bill co-sponsored by members Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.) and Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) to ban large sewage tanks near homes in either councilmanic district. The bill awaits Mayor John Street’s signature.
Instead of the tank, the water department is now proposing a new sewer line that would run parallel to the Poquessing Interceptor and serve as a relief pipe to the main sewer.
"That line would only receive flow when the Poquessing Interceptor is filled," Harney said. "The high-level sewage would be diverted over to this secondary sewer. Its design would be to handle 3.75 million gallons."
The line would run for about two miles, the DEP spokesman said. The state agency does not expect to receive detailed plans for the new pipe until around the time of the permitting process, he added.
"This is part of a five-year plan (to fix the problem)," Harney said. "The DEP permit would happen within those five years."
Meanwhile, the city and suburban communities that contribute to the Poquessing Interceptor system say they are trying to attack the problem at its sources, with varying success.
They want to stop storm water from infiltrating sewer pipes through cracks and leaks, as well as improper connections.
Philadelphia Water Department officials insist that the existing Poquessing Interceptor is fully capable of handling current sewage volume and additional volume resulting from new connections if storm water were eliminated from the system. The system is designed to keep sewage and storm runoff separate.
Therefore, the department has no intention of cutting service to suburban communities. Three townships pay the city to process all or part of their sewage — Bensalem, Lower Southampton and Lower Moreland.
Together in 2006, those communities delivered about 4 billion gallons of wastewater to the city and paid $3.4 million to the Philadelphia Water Department.
"Our concern is that we’re not telling the story real well," said Joanne Dahme, the water department’s watershed programs manager. "People keep looking at suburban development as the cause. Really, it’s storm water. The issue is rainfall."
The Poquessing Interceptor operates at one-third capacity during normal conditions, according to department figures. During certain rain events, the volume exceeds capacity and overflows.
Federal law prohibits separated sewers, such as the Poquessing Interceptor, from overflowing under any circumstances. Combined sewers — which are designed to mix sewage and storm water — are allowed some overflow by law.
But the periodic overflows of the Poquessing Interceptor are "similar" in composition to combined sewer overflows, Dahme said. That is, the flow is mostly storm water.
Contribution to the Poquessing Interceptor is split roughly 50-50 between the city and the suburbs, although an exact ratio is not known because the city does not meter its own flow into the system, according to Joe Claire, deputy commissioner for finance.
In addition to Dahme and Claire, Deputy Commissioner for Operations Debra McCarty, General Manager for Planning and Engineering Steve Furtek and other department officials spoke to the Times early last week.
In contrast to public suspicion, total flow rates from the suburbs have actually risen only slightly in recent years, the water officials claimed.
Bensalem declined from 3.868 million gallons per day in 1993 to 2.951 MGD in 2006. Lower Southampton dropped from 7.332 MGD to 6.858 in the same span. Lower Moreland increased from 0.558 MGD to 1.251. However, Lower Moreland’s contribution is split between the Poquessing and another sewage system.
In all, the Philadelphia Water Department processes sewage from six suburban "wholesalers," or municipal authorities, at its Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant in Port Richmond. Total flow for those six customers was 37.25 MGD in 1993, compared to 38.8 in 2006.
Patrick Cleary, a spokesman for the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, which manages Bensalem’s sewer system, cautions that flow measurements prior to 2006 may have been based largely on estimates rather than actual measurements.
In Bensalem, Cleary said, there are 13 connections to the Poquessing. Flows in 10 of those were calculated using an estimate system until last year. Figures had been based on equivalent dwelling units (EDUs), which accounts for the estimated number and type of connections, he said.
Though the authority was unable to provide data on the actual number of connections in Bensalem, Cleary was confident that the total has increased over time, judging by the amount of new development seen in the township.
"Especially if they’re talking about the last fifteen years," he said.
The city’s water department does not use, and has rarely ever used, EDUs when calculating flow for billing purposes, according to spokeswoman Laura Copeland. For non-metered connections, she said, the department estimates wastewater flow based on drinking water usage.
Cleary said that suburban officials are considering installing their own sewage tank to hold overflows during peak flow times, but there are no specific plans or locations.
However, the authority has begun to go door by door in Bensalem to inspect for improper sewer connections and damaged sewer vents. The process is expected to continue for the next two years.
Of 3,000 homes visited so far, inspectors have found 250 improper hook-ups, mostly sump pumps connected to the sewer line.
"That can create a tremendous amount of water (in the sewer)," Cleary said.
Once an improper hook-up is discovered, a property owner has 90 days to remedy the problem.
Philadelphia Water Department officials find it difficult to undertake a similar inspection program in the city. Generally, residential sewer connections can cost homeowners thousands of dollars to replace.
"It’s hard to go after homeowners who don’t have apparent problems, to go after them for leaking connections," Dahme said. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com