Construction Project Uncovers Sewer Mains Plugged with Grease By Chuck Clement, Staff Reporter, Madison Daily Leader Madison Mayor Roy Lindsay provided this photo of a sanitary-sewer pipe recently removed from underneath N. 2nd St. that has significant blockage due to grease and oil disposed into Madison’s wastewater system. City officials have mailed letters to Madison restaurants saying that the businesses must maintain their greaseinterceptor systems. No one wants to call the plumber to fix a stopped-up pipe in their house, but the city of Madison is finding underground sanitary-sewer mains blocked with grease that make a clogged drain look like child’s play.
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Mayor Roy Lindsay said construction workers replacing Madison’s water and sanitary-sewer mains under N. 2nd St. discovered major blockages in the sewer pipes at several locations due to grease disposed via water drains. “In three different locations, we’ve found grease buildup in the sewer pipes,” Lindsay said. “The blockages had built up from 50 to 80 percent to one location with 100 percent blockage of the pipe.” According to Lindsay, the complete blockage of the sewer pipe meant that wastewater needed to “back up” in the pipe to the point that it needed to “go around the block” and find another route downstream to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. “Of course, it’s difficult for anyone to realize to what extent this has been going on, because all of our sewer pipes are buried underground,” Lindsay said.
SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
