Sewer Improvements Not Yet on the Horizon

The Municipal Services Department, headed by Bill Nelson, is in the process of evaluating the Western Springs sewer system. The system has not been reevaluated in ten years and in order to determine how well the system is handling new homes and current rain storm strength, it was discussed at the August 25 Public Works and Water Meeting.

In order to properly study the current sewer system, Public Works employees have recently removed manhole covers and measured the depth of each manhole throughout Western Springs. The next step is to create a topographical map through aerial photography, Nelson explained at the meeting. By combining the data an updated model should lead to a better understanding of the existing sewer system and in order to determine how much water is running to each sewer, but not without citizen input.

"We also want to survey the residents to get their perception and their experience…It helps balance the computer model to make sure the input is correct," Nelson explained.

The primary expected source of change in how the sewers are fairing is the new construction that boomed at the beginning of the decade when many old homes were replaced by larger new homes.  Nonetheless, Nelson said, "I wouldn't expect [to see a lot of changes]…over the past ten years [because we've been able to] gather some of this data a lot more readily so we think we can better refine the model, though potentially we'll see different things in this model [because of building of new houses]."

The model is still many steps away from being completed as proposals have not yet been accepted for the construction of the model.  While it is estimated to cost around $50,000, Nelson believes the model will be discussed further in October or November as the village prepares its budget for the following year.

The sewer system evaluation comes in the wake of, but not as a result of, the recent sewer main collapse at 40th Street on August 13. An emergency board meeting was held on August 18 to allocate funds for the repair, which was completed on August 27 and is expected to not have exceeded the $75,000 estimated cost.