Lombard's Public Works Department has scheduled an online presentation about the village’s network of underground sewers, where local residents can learn more about the sewer network in their area.
Lombard’s Public Works private contractors and employees are responsible for maintaining 274 miles of sewers in the area as well as monitoring 18 pump stations.
The area’s sanitary sewer maintenance activities, which the department also handles, includes flushing; underground video televising; repairing; lining; cutting tree roots; and removing fats, oils and grease from the system.
The water from the sewers is drained through a wastewater treatment plant that cleans the water and then sends it through local waterways. The storm sewers gather rainwater that drains into waterways.
“We hope to provide a better understanding of the sewer systems that we rely on day-to-day and work hard to maintain,” Dave Gorman, the assistance director of Public Works at Lombard, said. “When flooding occurs, we often hear rumors of a valve that was not open or a pump that wasn’t working, but it’s actually just a matter of system capacity -- whether the floodplains were full, the sewers were surcharged or the rainfall so intense that inlets were backed up.”
Alerts Sign-up