City of Atlanta

Department of Watershed Management

Press Release

July 2, 2009 — Commissioner Rob Hunter has announced that the Department of Watershed Management completed work on the rehabilitation of the sewers in Sewer Group 1 (SG1) in compliance with the EPA’s deadline. SG1 sewers were considered to be the sewers most in need of repair and rehabilitation when the Sewer System Evaluation Survey (SSES) and associated rehab began in 2002. Under the First Amended Consent Decree governing Sanitary Sewer Overflows, EPA set a deadline of Midnight June 30 for completion of the rehabilitation work.

For purposes of the SSES and Sewer Rehabilitation Program, the Department divided the City’s 1,600 miles of sewers into six sewer groups, with the most deteriorated sewers in Sewer Group 1 and the least problematic in Sewer Group 6. Under the SSES, the City inspected 331 miles of sewers in SG1. It repaired or replaced 135 miles identified as too damaged to fulfill their function. In total, the City has rehabbed about 50 percent of the sewers pinpointed in the SSES as needing repair (306 of 607 miles).

“This is an important milestone for the Department and for the City,” Commissioner Hunter said. “Completion of this work on time and on budget is a remarkable achievement and keeps the Department’s string of meeting every Consent Decree deadline intact.”

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The Department of Watershed Management provides drinking water and wastewater collection and treatment services to more than 1 million people over a 650-square-mile area.

Press releases