Close to 50,000 gallons recovered with vacuum trucks
The City of Venice has reported the spillage of almost 8,000 gallons of raw sewage mixed with rainfall that occurred on Aug. 4 and Aug 5, as a result of the heavy rains associated with Tropical Storm Debby.
The manholes are part of the city infrastructure that includes the Venice Eastside Wastewater Treatment Plant, the reports indicated. That facility stands at 3510 Laurel Road E.
On Aug. 4, city staff advised the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) that approximately 1,350 gallons of raw sewage and rainwater flowed from Manhole 10-26, noting that most of the liquid was rainwater.
Staff was able to recover approximately 19,200 gallons, based on the loads of vacuum trucks used during the incident, the report added.
Then, on Aug. 5, approximately 6,600 gallons — again, mostly rainwater — overflowed from Manhole 6-12, that report said. Workers were able to recover about 30,000 gallons, the report added.
The Aug. 4 incident began at approximately 1 p.m. and ended about 5:30 p.m., the report noted. The Manhole 06-12 spill started at approximately 2:30 p.m. and was resolved by 8 p.m., that report said.
In both situations, city staff explained to FDEP, “lift station was unable to keep up with the torrential downpours.”
High Tide Technologies explains, “A wastewater lift station is a pumping station that moves wastewater from a lower elevation to a higher elevation. The benefit of using a lift station in a sewage collection system is that it saves a substantial amount of money in excavation costs, which involves digging for sewer pipes. Sewer pipes live underground, and digging trenches is costly. Installing a wastewater lift station at certain points in a gravity pipeline system saves on front-end construction costs without sacrificing efficiency or functionality. They play an integral role in moving sewage to a wastewater treatment plant.”
In each case, the city reports noted, a vacuum truck was dispatched to the affected lift station, to pump it out continually, in an effort to help it keep up with abnormally heavy flows.
The clean-up at both sites was completed, the reports said, and everything was working normally as of the time that city staff sent the reports to FDEP, on Aug. 9.
Further, lime was applied at each manhole, along with appropriate signage about the incidents, the reports added.
The Government of Western Australia explains, “In some circumstances, quicklime (builders lime) may be spread over the area [of a sewage spill … if [it is] in a non-paved area. This helps to neutralise wastewater so that it is less harmful to the environment. This also assists in reducing odours.”
A Sarasota News Leader review of rainfall data provided by the Sarasota County Water Atlas found that the closest county rain gauge to the Venice Eastside Wastewater Treatment Plant showed a total of 11.15 inches of rain had fallen over the seven-day period through 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 6.
