MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Muscatine Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) located a force main sewer line leak 500 feet east of the treatment plat at 1202 Musser Street earlier today (Apr. 24).
“We think the link is at a fuse joint,” Jon Koch, WPCP Director, said. “We have the area dug out and are continuing to look for the exact area of the leak.”
The Papoose Creek Lift Station on the Muscatine riverfront was temporarily shut down from 4-7 p.m. today so that the line could drain. Shutting down the lift station created a by-pass of untreated waste water into the Mississippi River where the Papoose Creek empties into the river just upstream of the old boat landing.
“Depending on what we find it could be a quick repair or it make take a little longer,” Koch said.
The force main was lined with a 26-inch pipe over the winter after the old line had a break near in the intersection of Day, Birch, and Nebraska Streets. The new line had been working well until this week.
“This may be of the pipes that came to use already fused together and had survived some of the forest fires in California,” Koch said. “The contractor is hopeful that if it is at a fuse joint, banding of the area will stop the leak.”
The Papoose Creek lift station was shut down over the winter as repairs were completed and returned to service on Feb. 12.
“We are very hopeful that this will be just a short shutdown of the lift station and that repairs can be completed soon” Koch said.