Community Notes: Update from water, street departments

By Cory Spieker, Superintendent, Charles City Water and Street Departments

Sanitary Sewer Maintenance

Many people probably put little thought into the utilities that run underground and the maintenance that crews are doing year-round to keep everything flowing, both to and from your house. There are a lot of moving parts to ensure that when you turn on your sink there is safe, clean drinking water available, and when you flush your toilet everything goes away as quickly as possible so that you can go on with your day.

Let’s take a look at some of the yearly maintenance we do to make sure waste keeps flowing smoothly away from your house to the wastewater plant.

In the spring, the street crew begins by taking a tanker truck out to flush the sanitary sewer lines. One operator is responsible for loading the tanker truck and dumping, while the other operator is responsible for inspecting each manhole and monitoring flow. This gives us an opportunity to look at the condition of every sanitary sewer manhole and identify any restrictions in flow.

The second yearly step of the sanitary sewer maintenance process is to bring out the vacuum truck. Most people have probably seen and heard the vac truck out in their neighborhood, but you may not know how it works or what we are doing.

The operators use the vac truck’s long hose, along with high pressure water jets, to scour the interior of the pipe, dislodging debris and flushing it toward the vacuum hose. The vacuum hose then removes any sand, trash, grease, sludge or other debris from the sanitary sewer lines.

Sewer jetting using a vac truck is an effective method of sewer line maintenance and is often used by municipalities to prevent sewer line backups and improve the overall functionality of the sewer system.

The vac truck is one of the most important pieces of equipment the city owns. Earlier this month, the city council approved the purchase of a new vac truck. This purchase will replace our old truck and allow us to continue to proactively maintain our underground utilities.

The street department is responsible for the maintenance and repairs of more than 60 miles of sanitary sewer mains ranging in size from 4 inches to 36 inches. All of the sanitary sewer mains take waste to the new Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) for treatment.

The street department is also responsible for more than 40 miles of storm sewer mains that take water to the river from intakes on streets and in parking lots.

Street Repairs

Along with the underground utilities, the Charles City Street Department repairs and maintains the city streets and the city-owned parking lots all year round. This includes pothole filling year-round.

It also includes using a Durapatch machine in the spring and summer. This is an annual street maintenance program that repairs flaws or potholes in the roadway when larger pavement repair is unnecessary. Many city streets receive this treatment annually.

Using the Durapatch machine to fill cracks and potholes helps to keep water from getting under the asphalt and helps to extend the useful life of our streets. You may just see the “loose rock” on the streets after we leave and wonder what we were thinking.

I assure you, there is a method to the madness, and here is the process:

1) Asphalt emulsion is sprayed over cracks or holes in the road.

2) Limestone rock is sprayed over emulsion to build up the hole or crack and seal flawed areas. This also helps keep the asphalt emulsion in place.

3) It may take several days for areas to compact and seal.

4) Once sealed, remaining limestone is swept away.

Durapatch is a very cost-effective method for road repairs and will last for several years until a more permanent repair or total resurfacing can be performed. A reminder that Durapatch can be messy. Be aware that materials used in this process can stick to shoes or tires, and can be tracked into homes. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable with the Durapatch process.

Brush Pickup

Brush pickup dates are set for May 15, June 19 and Oct. 16. You will need to make arrangements if you have a tree removed on your property, but branches will be picked up from normal yard trimmings. Please make sure branches are stacked neatly.

Shaw Avenue compost site is open year-round for you to dispose of your own branches and yard clippings as needed.

Please remember that there is not a leaf pickup in the spring. Shaw Avenue dump site is open from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. City residents can haul their yard waste and tree trimmings to Shaw Avenue during those times. Compost and mulch piles are also available for Charles City residents to take at no cost. You must load and haul, but you are able to take as much as you want for your lawn and gardening needs.

Slow Down

The busy construction season will soon be underway. Our work zones are constantly changing as we move from one project to another. As you travel during the construction season, please stay alert, slow down and avoid distractions so that all of us can go home safe to our families at the end of the day.

Contact

Please feel free to contact me by email at cory@cityofcharlescity.org with any comments or concerns.