Sewer-systems study to end in May

Sewer inventories will be completed by early May, an engineer says.
By TIM YOVICH
Vindicator Trumbull Staff
CORTLAND -- An engineering firm is about half-done with an inventory of the city's storm water and sanitary sewer systems.
The city contracted last September with URS Corp. for $253,899 to determine where the lines are located, their size and slope.
Joseph K. Ferenczy, a URS senior civil engineer, said Thursday during a monthly progress meeting that the inventory is 40 percent to 50 percent complete.
Work on the project began Sept. 23 and is scheduled for completion in early May.
Don Wittman, city service director, explained that when the project is completed, the city will be better prepared to analyze problems as they occur.
"We can spend city dollars to help the most people," Wittman said.
The city has paper maps of the sanitary sewer system but some are missing.
Wittman said the maps show the pipe size but not the slope. As a result, the sewer line capacity can't be determined.
The lines will be located and some 600 sanitary sewer manholes will be photographed. The materials from which they are constructed and their condition will also be noted.
How GIS will help
As with the sanitary lines, the storm system will be computerized using a geographic information system.
With GIS, the city will be able to determine the size of the pipe, when maintenance was done, when it was last inspected and if there is a need for increased capacity, Wittman explained.
Information about the storm sewer system also is lacking.
Wittman and Ferenczy explained that as the city developed over the years, some storm sewers were changed by developers and information about them isn't available.
The best way to find the lines, they said, is to find a starting point such as a catch basin or manhole and walk down the street following the line.
Wittman said when the project is completed and a complaint about a blocked sewer is received from a homeowner, it can be determined when the line was last inspected and its condition.
With such data, the service director explained, the city can determine if the blockage is between the house and street or if the system needs enlarged for greater capacity.
The inventory will also comply with new regulations being proposed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA will want to know the systems' capacities, operations documented and if the systems are being managed. In this way the city will be able to determine what equipment needs replaced, Wittman said.
yovich@vindy.com