About this service

The purpose of the City of Erie, Bureau of Sewers Combined Sewer Overflow Public Notification System is to alert the public of possible Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) or water quality impacts from combined sanitary sewer overflows. This system is in response to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule for Section 425 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 in the Federal Register which took effect on February 7, 2018. This rule requires any entity discharging at least one Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) directly into the Great Lakes to develop and implement a CSO Public Notification Plan.

Map and Monitoring

The City of Erie, Bureau of Sewers maintains a real-time CSO monitoring network utilizing flow monitors and telemetry units to record and transmit data to a dedicated server for analysis and reporting. Currently, the City of Erie Bureau of Sewers operates and maintains monitoring equipment at four (4) permitted CSOs within the sanitary sewer system. The CSO sites are identified on the interactive map and all discharge to the enclosed Mill Creek Tube.
This public notification system is based on monitoring data which is used to report combined sewer overflows to the required regulatory agencies. All information on this site is updated in accordance with the established EPA rule.

Combined Sewers and Water Quality

Combined sewers carry sanitary sewage and stormwater in the same pipe, a design dating back to the end of the 19th century upon which many cities like Erie still rely on today. During dry weather, the combined sewer system has the capacity to transport all the sanitary sewer flows entering the system for eventual treatment at the City of Erie’s Wastewater Treatment Facility. However, when flow in the sanitary sewer increases as a result of heavy rainfall and/or snow melt and system capacity is reached, the sewer system allows combined stormwater and sanitary sewage to discharge to a water body by means of combined sewer overflow/outfall structures (CSOs) to prevent and protect neighborhoods and treatment facilities from sanitary sewer flooding.