Groves City Council on June 23 received a preliminary engineering report on the 20 Fifth Street sanitary sewer system that consultants said has lost capacity after an earlier slip‑lining and is contributing large inflows to the city’s wastewater system when it rains.

Gary Grama, engineer with SouthEx Surveyors, told council the original 30‑inch reinforced‑concrete sewer was slip‑lined when it later experienced structural distress; the lining reduced conveyance from about 8,300 gallons per minute down to roughly 5,000 gpm, a reduction the consultant described as about 43 percent. He said that reduction is a major reason parts of the city experience wastewater service problems in heavy rain.

Grama outlined three options: construct a new lift station near Highway 73 and 20 Fifth Street that would pump flow directly to the wastewater plant (estimated cost about $4,000,000, not including site acquisition and easements), attempt to remove and replace the slip liner (deemed impractical given the existing structural failure), or install a new 24‑inch sanitary sewer parallel to the existing line. Grama said placing the new 24‑inch sewer outside the pavement on the east side of 20 Fifth Street would avoid about $1 million in roadway replacement and stabilized‑backfill costs and is his recommendation.

“We’re looking at about $2,000,000 to install a new 24‑inch sewer and replace the lost capacity,” Grama told the council. He said design would take about three months, followed by roughly three months of procurement and mobilization, and four to six months for construction — a 10‑ to 12‑month schedule from authorization to completion if the city proceeds.

Council members asked whether a larger pipe would provide future capacity; Grama said the wastewater treatment plant is permitted for 25,000,000 gallons per day, and the system’s near‑term constraint is infiltration and inflow rather than pipe size. He also said that cleaning some four force mains and repairing a nonfunctioning valve at the lift station could restore much of the plant’s delivery capacity without a larger pipe. The consultant said the recommended 24‑inch line combined with cleaning and valve repairs should allow the system to meet dry‑ and wet‑weather flows without the $4 million lift‑station option.

Grama noted utility conflicts — a gas line and water line on the west side of 20 Fifth Street and an AT&T cable on the east — but said the design team is confident those issues can be resolved. He also said the 24‑inch alignment would connect to existing manholes and likely tie into a junction box ahead of the lift station pumps; final connection details would be decided during design.

Council did not vote on funding or authorizations during the meeting; the presentation was informational and included questions about funding options and next steps. Grama said he will provide estimates for cleaning force mains and other work and will return with more detailed construction and funding options if council asks him to proceed to final design.