TOWNSHIP INQUIRY #1

To: Texas Township Board

Article VI in Chapter 10 of the Texas Township Environment Municipal Code safeguards groundwater for residents' general health and safety.

In 2017, the current engineer, Tom Wheat, was assigned a request to explore a capital improvement plan to begin determining the cost of extending the sewer line westward of Eagle Lake. The capital improvement plan scored high on the township's list of needs. Tom provided the cost estimate, but the board did not immediately implement the extension.   

Later that same year, a massive flood struck the entire town. Rising surface waters caused a significant increase in surface and groundwater levels throughout the area. Numerous residents began pumping water down the sewer lines as they had no other means to "hold" to protect their safety and general welfare. Waters kept rising, and the City of Portage warned Texas Township of main force sewer line overload. 

In 2019, Texas Township reevaluated the sewer extension plan to alleviate the burden on the primary forced main line in response to concerns from the City of Portage. However, Tom informed the board that installing a buried sewer line would require dewatering or pumping groundwater to lay the pipe. With water levels already rising, there was no suitable location to discharge the pumped water, making the burial of a sewer line in groundwater a potentially unwise decision. Additionally, the decision to place a sewer pipe in groundwater may qualify as violating the Township Wellhead Ordinance Act and was likely weighed as a township risk.   

Research indicates sanitary sewer failures are more prevalent than many know. Reasons for failures vary from situations such as: 

  • Age of the pipe

  • Cracks to the pipe that eventually involve more extensive failures

  • Tree roots penetrating the pipe

  • Soil conditions (wet or dry) for where the chosen location for the pipe

  • Freezing of the pipe due to high groundwater conditions around the pipe 

More recently, Texas Township replaced the main forced line at 12th Street due to multiple breaks from corrosion as requested by the City of Portage.

Questions:

A) Three soil boring for the current proposed plat created identical results. The test began drilling down at an elevation of about 910 feet. Within 6 feet, wet to most conditions appeared. Are the wet conditions from rising groundwater as occurred in 2019?

B) The elevation of the sewer pipe appears to be placed below 900 feet.  This elevation is below the current “ordinary” water line for Eagle and Pine Island Lakes.  If wet conditions are indicated only six feet below the ground, won't the sewer pipe be in groundwater as occurred in 2019, increasing risk of pipe failure?

C)  Assuming conditions are dry today but deteriorate tomorrow. Is Texas Township to assume responsibility for a potential failure, knowing the events of 2019 and the need to dewater the entire area to place a sewer line in “wet conditions” that may freeze and burst the pipe?

 D) Is a backup plan for the long-term solution available should Texas Township lose its ability to pump downstream lake water, which all residents depend on, should a contamination event occur?