The "Cooperative Approach to CSO Reduction" (Program) was focused on working with the citizens of Bremerton to reduce CSOs from our community. The Program was supported by a Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) Centennial Clean Water Fund (CCWF) Grant and matching funds from the City of Bremerton. It also provided citizens with support to come into compliance with City ordinance #4684 that requires the separation of all sources of storm water (where practicable)1 from the sanitary sewer system by January 1, 2005. More importantly, the ordinance provided an option to fund a separate pool of funds that could be used to provide financial incentives and assistance to residential property owners if needed. This fund allowed the Program to pay residential property owners for separating their downspouts, up to an amount established by City Council Resolution and identified by a completed site assessment.
The program was a cooperative effort between the City of Bremerton and its residents to reduce the amount of storm water entering combined sewer system through private sewer laterals. This program was needed to bring Bremerton into compliance with WAC 173-245, which requires the reduction of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) by the earliest possible date.
Why is it so important to separate stormwater from the sanitary sewer system?
Storm water entering the sanitary sewer system will cause the system to fill up beyond its capacity and can cause a CSO to occur. A CSO is a discharge of untreated, mixed wastewater and storm water that flows directly to Sinclair Inlet or Port Washington Narrows. A CSO only occurs when it rains and lasts for several minutes to several hours, depending on location, intensity and duration of the rain. By separating storm water from the sanitary sewer system and reducing infiltration of ground water and rainfall-induced infiltration into the system, we can eliminate CSOs from our community.
Click here to view animations that show how the sewer system operates during dry weather and during rain storms. These animations were created in an effort to provide a clear understanding of how the City's wastewater and stormwater sewer systems operate.
What has the City done to reduce CSOs?
The City has been reducing CSOs since 1987 when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first required reduction of this source of water pollution. In 1992 the City completed its first CSO Reduction Plan and in 1994 the first major CSO reduction project began. As of 2004 the City has completed CSO control projects for 6 of 10 drainage basins at a cost of approximately $41 million and will spend an estimated $9 million more will be needed to complete improvements in the remaining 4 drainage basins. As of 2003 the City has achieved a 95% reduction in CSO volume from improvements which addressed the storm water runoff in the City street rights-of-way and many residential and commercial properties.
What do private property owners need to do?
The City is unable to reach the goals for the CSO Reduction program by addressing only storm water in the street rights-of-way. A Citywide sewer system assessment, completed in 2000, found that 60% to 80% of the remaining storm water entering the sanitary sewer system comes from private property. Therefore, it is necessary to disconnect all possible storm water connections to the sanitary sewer system from private property as well as publicly owned and street right-of-ways. A few exceptions have been allowed to keep their existing storm water connection to the sanitary sewer system, such as a property where it was not cost effective to separate, or the property has two separate systems that have been identified in City inspection records.
Why do private property owners need to be involved at all?
With one inch of rain, roof drainage from an average residential building alone can deliver approximately 1,500 gallons of rainwater to the sanitary sewer system. This has a very significant impact on the sanitary sewer system, and when there are 10 or 20 houses this extra water can easily exceed the design capacity of that sewer system and cause a CSO event.
In Bremerton, storm water service laterals belong to the property owner from the connection to the service main, in the street, to the building or parking lot to that it serves. Because operation and maintenance of these systems are the responsibility of the property owner, the City is looking to the property owners to join the effort to reduce water pollution by separating their storm water from the sanitary sewer system.
What will the program do for me?
Many properties have underground drainage systems that are not well documented and their point of discharge may be unknown. Many of these systems are not connected to the sanitary sewer system and therefore do not contribute to the problem with CSOs. You may not need to do anything to your drainage system; so it is very important to find out where your system goes before you consider a modification.
To help determine how your system works the program still provides informational brochures, and a How-to-Disconnect-Your-Downspout video. A contractor may be needed to complete a site assessment which could involve a dye test of your system to find out where it is connected. As of 2003 the City will not provided free site assessments since funding for this effort is no longer available. The site assessment will identify which drains, if any, need to be separated. With this information a detailed plan will need to be made which includes work to be completed and when it will be done. A permit is not required to modify or change your downspout configuration but an inspection fee may be required for a post separation inspection.
When the work is completed the property owner will schedule a post separation inspection to check the work and remove the improper storm water connection fee from the property's bill.
What if I have a connection to the system that can't be separated?
If there is a connection that cannot be disconnected, then the property will assessed the Improper Storm water Connection surcharge established by ordinance #4685 on a long-term basis. Click here to see the surcharge schedule. Revenues collected from this surcharge will be used to offset the cost of design, construction and the operation and maintenance of the new facilities that are needed to control and treat the extra water from these connections. The elimination of CSOs and this source of water pollution is the goal of the program.
*A site assessment determines whether a particular connection to the sanitary sewer is allowed to remain because separation is not practicable or cost effective. Site assessments are currently not being offered.