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Spokane wastewater director: combined-sewer overflows down sharply, membrane treatment cutting phosphorus
Summary
City wastewater staff described decades of work to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSOs), highlighted investments in storage tanks and a new membrane treatment facility that lowered phosphorus concentrations, and discussed ongoing adaptation and green-infrastructure options.
City wastewater staff told Spokane’s climate advisory board that investments in storage tanks, system controls and a new membrane filtration facility have sharply reduced combined-sewer overflows and improved effluent quality, while urging continued attention to stormwater management and climate-driven event timing.
“I can say proudly that we’re now down to 17,” Raylene (wastewater director) said of the city’s CSO outfalls, and she described a long-term program of tank construction and system upgrades that in recent years produced a single documented overflow event during a heavy November rain. “That 1 overflow did happen with that 1 inch rain,” she said, noting the November event was driven by unusually intense precipitation.
Why it matters: Combined-sewer overflows mix untreated stormwater and sewage and…
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