New plan, new hope
in the sewage saga

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Residents of the Brookhaven section of East Torresdale can breathe a little easier after the Philadelphia Water Department confirmed last week that it has scrapped a plan to bury a giant sewage holding tank in a local park next to homes.
But an alternate solution to periodic sewage spills into the Poquessing Creek could cause plenty of headaches for residents and motorists on nearby State Road.
In the wake of widespread opposition to the proposed 4.25-million-gallon underground tank, the water department detailed a new plan on July 12 during a community meeting at Holy Family University.
The new fix is a two-mile-long pipe that would run mostly along State Road from Fitler Street to Pennypack Street. Installation of the relief sewer probably wouldn’t begin for about two years. Work would be completed in one- or two-block segments and could take another 18 months to two years.
The water department learned of sewage overflows into the creek more than three years ago, according to Joanne Dahme, watershed programs manager for the city agency. A mix of wastewater and stormwater bursts from a manhole and into a tributary stream six to 10 times a year during heavy rains.
The manhole is behind the Nazareth Academy Grade School, at 4701 Grant Ave., and adjacent to Holy Family University. It is connected to the Poquessing Interceptor, a sewer main that runs along its namesake creek on the Philadelphia side and is the trunk of a wastewater system serving the Far Northeast and three suburban municipalities.
Under normal circumstances, the main pipe is only about 40 percent full. But during major storms, runoff water inundates the system through flaws in aging pipes and improper storm-drain connections.
The interceptor was installed in the 1950s, with new branches and individual connections added as needed for development in its service area.
The water department proposed putting the holding tank near Hegerman Street and St. Denis Drive, but residents of the Brookhaven section protested. The East Torresdale Civic Association, which represents a broader area, also opposed the tank.
Local City Councilman Brian O’Neill responded by drafting an ordinance to prohibit any holding tank near homes in his district or the neighboring district of Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, who signed on as a co-sponsor. City Council unanimously approved the bill.
The newly proposed relief sewer would connect to the Poquessing Interceptor near Grant Avenue and James Street. Its diameter would be 54 inches at the connection point and gradually expand to an 8-by-12-foot "box" sewer.
From Grant and James, it would run south on James, east on Fitler and south on State, ending at State and Pennypack. It would hold about 3.75 million gallons. The water department did not disclose an estimated cost of the project.
Like the previously proposed tank, the relief sewer would be designed to relieve volume from the existing main during heavy rains. Then, as volume in the primary system subsides, the stored water would flow out of the relief pipe and back into the primary pipe.
The water department processes the sewage at its Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant in Port Richmond.
The department decided on the relief sewer for several reasons, Dahme said. The pipe is an efficient solution to the problem and meets specifications of both the water department and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the city’s "corrective action plan" for the Poquessing overflows.
Also, Dahme said, the pipe has long-term maintenance and operational advantages. Water department crews are more familiar with working on pipes than underground holding tanks. Also, future modifications would be easier on the pipe than a tank.
Debra McCarty, the deputy commissioner for operations, said the water department has determined that State Road can accommodate another sewer main, although several other mains already run under the four-lane state highway.
Yet much design work remains.
"It is a wide street. We have to look at elevations, (but) conceptually this works," McCarty said.
Traffic flow and bus routes will be affected by construction, but the department will limit work zones to short segments of the project area at any given time. The work may start at one end and proceed to the opposite end, said Steve Furtek, general manager for planning and engineering, or it may start simultaneously at both ends and proceed toward a middle point.
The relief sewer is one of several "tools" that the department will continue to use to address the overflow problem, Dahme said.
The department and its suburban counterparts are also trying to reduce the inflow and infiltration (called i & i) of stormwater into the sewer system by repairing damaged pipes and eliminating improper storm pipe "cross" connections.
Two suburban water authorities, those in Lower Southampton and Lower Moreland townships, have agreed to help fund the relief sewer. Meanwhile, the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, which serves Bensalem Township, is considering its own holding-tank project to capture flow before it reaches the Poquessing Interceptor.
In response to questions about the impact of new development on the overflow problem, Philadelphia Water Department officials insisted that new connections, such as those planned for the 400-home Byberry development, do not have an impact.
Under normal conditions, the interceptor is only about 40 percent full. Also, new developments must be designed to capture runoff during storms, thereby reducing the immediate flow into the public water-drainage system.
Furthermore, Dahme noted, the sewer pipes that tend to allow stormwater infiltration — because of cracks and leaks — are older ones, not new ones. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com