In 2005, the City of Bloomfield Hills entered into an Administrative Consent Order from MDNRE with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to complete a Short Term Corrective Action Plan (STCAP) developed by HRC. Due to basement flooding and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in the entire Evergreen Farmington Sewage Disposal System (EFSDS), several communities in the district were required to enter into these agreements in order to reduce wet weather flows. The original deadline for the completion of the STCAP was December of 2009. However, several extensions were granted to the overall Evergreen Farmington System, and therefore the City of Bloomfield Hills was granted additional time to continue to improve their sanitary sewer system.
The STCAP outlined tasks for the City to perform each year, includes meter metering, manhole inspections, televising of sanitary sewers, and rehabilitation of mainline sewers and sanitary sewer manholes. These STCAP tasks also included a comprehensive public education program to inform residents of steps that they can take to reduce I/I into the sewer system. This material included information about disconnecting sump pumps and downspouts, contacting the City if any tampering with sanitary sewer manholes is observed, and possible landscaping and grading adjustments that can be made to address the problem. This information was presented to residents by letters, newsletters, and information included in quarterly water and sewer bills.
During the past 5+ years of the STCAP, the City has identified and rehabilitated approximately 420 City-owned sanitary manholes and 170 lateral sewer lines, which were potentially contributing excess inflow and infiltration into the system. The City also identified several private I/I sources and have been working with property owners to have these addressed.
The goal of the work completed by the City over the course of their STCAP is to reduce peak flows into the EFSDS. By reducing peak flows into the system, the occurrence of SSOs are greatly reduced, thus improving water quality in the Rouge River watershed. Furthermore, all wet weather flows that enter the system are transported to the DWSD waste water treatment plant (WWTP) where they are required to be pumped and treated. By removing wet weather flow from the system energy cost savings are realized as the volume of sewage to be pumped and treated is reduced.
