Combined Sewer Overflow Control Plan
In 2017, Lancaster reached a settlement, called a Consent Decree, with the US Environmental Protection Agency and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection regarding discharges from the Combined Sewer System. The Consent Decree requires the City to update our Long-Term Control Plan, which is our plan to address the CSOs.
What is a Combined Sewer System?
Lancaster has what is called a “combined sewer system.” It collects and transports both domestic sewage, and rainwater from the City’s storm drains, into a single system of pipes. This type of sewer system is common in historic cities like ours.
Sewage and rainwater flow through the combined system to the City’s Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility where it is treated before being discharged into the Conestoga River. However, there are times when the system becomes overwhelmed, and sewage and rainwater are discharged directly into the Conestoga River. This is called a Combined Sewer Overflow or CSO.
Where does this happen?
There are five “outfalls” along the Conestoga River. Each outfall has a sign beside it alerting people to avoid contact with the water during and immediately following an overflow. Each outfall also has a light calling attention to the sign and alerting people to stay out of the water when there are CSO events.
In addition to signs at the outfalls, signs like the one below are posted along the Conestoga River in Lancaster County Central Park warning people to avoid contact with the water during and following rainfall events.
Combined sewer overflows are regulated under the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for its wastewater treatment plant. The City is required by the Clean Water Act to have a plan for controlling CSOs (a Long-Term Control Plan), which must be approved by U.S. EPA and the Pennsylvania DEP.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
Clean up your block
Pick up litter or better yet, organize a neighborhood cleanup. Trash off our streets means less trash in our sewer system and river.
Plant a tree or install a rain garden
Increasing green infrastructure helps avoid combined sewer overflows by reducing the amount of stormwater that enters the combined sewer system.
Don’t put F.O.G. down your sink
Don’t put fats, oils or grease down your sink. This can cause sewage backups in your home. Put kitchen fats, oils, grease in a container with a lid and place it in your trash. Learn more here.
