The first real test for the St. Petersburg Upgraded Sewer System is a success, according to St. Petersburg Public Works.
The system appeared to survive Tropical Storm Emily with no major issues.
St. Petersburg Public Works said they expanded the storage capacity of the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant, located near Eckerd College.
Pro-active measures and hard work by staff alerted to the "potential" for the storm proved to be beneficial for residents and visitors as the city's infrastructure handled the inundation from the storm's heavy rainfall well, according St. Petersburg Public Works.
"As of Monday afternoon, July 31, 2017, all plants have been able to operate without violations of our permits," said Claude Tankersley, Public Works Administrator. "In other words, we treated to reclaimed water standards and disposed through our reclaimed water disposal system."
St. Petersburg Public Works did get a report of a minor manhole overflows due to partial line stoppage.
"It appeared to be storm debris that somehow got into our sanitary collection system. We were able to capture the majoriry of it with our vacuum truck," Tankersley said.
Please report all sewage and storm water related issues directly to the Water Resources Dispatch at (727) 893-7261
