Recent heavy rainfall combined with saturated ground conditions on Monday, Feb. 23, resulted in the City of Sweet Home overflowing diluted raw sewage into Ames Creek, which flows into the South Santiam River.
According to city, the influent pump station structure overflowed its plant capacity at approximately 2:35 p.m. on Monday and, as of 4:15 p.m. that same day, the situation was still ongoing.
In a press release, the city explained that when the ground becomes saturated by rain, groundwater and other sources of extraneous water from private property enters the sanitary sewer system through cracks and holes in the pipes, in addition to footing drains.
When this occurs, the ability of the sewer system to transport sewage to the wastewater treatment plant is exceeded and the system becomes overcharged. When those conditions become severe enough, the level within the wastewater treatment plant’s influent pump station overcharges, then overflows to Ames Creek.
Signs were posted warning people to avoid contact with the water in Ames Creek and South Santiam River due to potentially higher levels of bacteria. The signs will be removed when the overflow concludes and bacteria levels are determined to be normal.