CLEVELAND — Nonstop rain in the forecast often means sewer overflow from below throughout Cleveland and surrounding communities. The battle has been ongoing for years, especially on the city’s west side at Edgewater.
But change is coming.
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is wrapping up its new Westerly Pump station, expected to be fully operations, to help divert the excess sewage. The latest project is a puzzle piece in the company’s “Project Clean Lake,” is expected to cut down a total of four billion gallons overflow by year 2036.
“In a typical year we expect 300 million gallons of combined sewer overflow to enter the Cuyahoga River,” said Construction Supervisor, Nicholas Parisi. “Instead of that 300 million gallons going out in the river we will collect it here in the tunnel, store it temporarily.”
The 10,000 square foot pump station is tucked in just north of the Shoreway. The facility designed for full remote access, maintenance, and control of the city’s sewage.
“This is the fourth tunnel that will be placed online out of a total of seven all around Cleveland,” said Parisi.
As Parisi explained, each of the station’s four, 9-foot-tall pumps, which are stored in 200-foot-deep underground shafts, will pump nine million gallons of overflow a daily before sending it all to the Westerly Wastewater Treatment Center less than a mile away.
