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MSD - St. Louis Sewers
6:35 am
Mon November 14, 2011

Inside the St. Louis sewer system, Part 1: fixing a messy problem

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Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is required to post warning signs near every sewer overflow.
Credit Missouri Coalition for the Environment
There are more than 200 sanitary sewer overflows in St. Louis County, like this one in a condominium complex in Brentwood.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
MSD spokesperson Lance LeComb stands next to one of the 29-foot diameter combined sewer tunnels that run under Forest Park. Raw sewage can be seen flowing by.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
The tunnels emerge again near Manchester and Macklind, into the concrete channel of the River Des Peres. During dry weather, sewage runs under the channel to a sewage treatment plant.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
During heavy rains, a mixture of sewage and rain water overflows into the channel, carrying debris like this along with it.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
This combined sewer overflow (archway in channel) discharges sewage and rain water into the upper River Des Peres, on Ferguson Ave. just south of Melrose Ave. in University City.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
On the other side of Ferguson Ave., the River Des Peres runs by the backyards of these University City homes. During a storm, the water level can rise several feet in just a few minutes.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
At the low water crossing in University City’s Heman Park, the River Des Peres flows over the road during storms, carrying debris and raw sewage along with it.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
Along N. Sarah Street south of Page Ave., the sidewalks and parking lanes are paved with porous concrete as part of a “green infrastructure” demonstration project.
Credit Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio
The layer of porous concrete is about four to six inches thick with about 12 to 18 inches of gravel underneath it, to slow the flow of water into the sewer system.
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This summer, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District settled a four-year lawsuit with the Environmental Protection Agency over violations of the Clean Water Act.

Under the terms of the consent decree, MSD will spend the next 23 years upgrading the St. Louis area sewer system.

In the first of a two-part series on the sewer overhaul, St. Louis Public Radio’s Véronique LaCapra looks at the problems with our sewers—and what it’s going to take to fix them.

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MSD rate hearings
9:30 am
Mon August 15, 2011

MSD holds hearings on possible rate increases

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The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District wants public comment on a proposed rate increase. The hearings start Tuesday.
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The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is urging its customers to weigh in on a proposed rate increase that could push monthly sewer bills to $85 a month within 10 years.

"Without that input, we're going to be making some very important decisions on our own, and when you look at the cost, it really needs to be a community conversation," said agency spokesman Lance LeComb.

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