Weather

Orlando's 1000 miles of flushing, draining problems and how you can help

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com and George Waldenberger, WFTV.com
By Irene Sans, WFTV.com and George Waldenberger, WFTV.com
There are over 1,000 miles of sanitary sewage collection system, and between 40 to 50 million gallons of wastewater is processed each day, just in the city of Orlando. Anything that comes down in your drain (and we mean ANYTHING) is processed by lift stations that keep the whole system moving.
First, all the water runs downhill, going 35 feet deep. It is all collected at lift stations (there are 251 public stations in Orlando) and then pumped up, at 2,250 gallons per minute, to the wastewater treatment facility.

The problems & solutions

Storms and hurricanes often can prevent a lift station from functioning properly, either because of power outages or because heavy rains infiltrate the system. In fact, during a storm, flow can increase to 80 percent. Authorities recommend limiting water use during a hurricane, allowing only rain water to come through sewers. It decreases the chances of a system backing up, likely avoiding overflows.
Last year during Irma, many lift stations failed, mostly because of power outages, some from inundation from extra storm water rushing into manhole covers and seeps into the system through cracks in the old pipes and at the joints. During storms such as Irma, vacuum trucks get the wastewater out and temporary generators are installed. More generators have been installed in facilities this year.
Cooking oil that people put down the drain causes big issues in Orlando. It starts to build up, forming large clogs and blocking sewer lines. Items that should not be flushed -- such as diapers, swabs, rags, even the “flushable” wipes -- also clog pipes. Only what humans naturally produce, and toilet paper, should be flushed down the toilet.

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