Unfortunately, sewer overflows pose a serious threat to these ecosystems. Sewer overflows occur when wastewater pipes become blocked, often by fats, oils, and grease (FOG), causing raw sewage to flow into streets, homes, and storm drains. This untreated sewage can then enter Houston’s bayous and bays, creating dangerous environmental and public health risks.
Protect Our Waterways: How to Prevent Sanitary Sewer Overflows This Season
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DISCOVER
Estimates are that a whopping 70% of overflows in Houston are caused by blockages caused by from grease and wipes. These overflows nearly double during holiday months.
Sewer overflows can have devastating impacts on Houston’s natural environment. Here’s how:
Water Pollution: Untreated sewage contaminates bayous, rivers, and bays with harmful substances like nitrogen and phosphorus, which deplete oxygen levels and disrupt aquatic ecosystems.
Hypoxia (Low Oxygen Zones): Excessive nutrients in the water can create “dead zones” where aquatic life struggles to survive due to low oxygen levels.
Harmful Algal Blooms: Sewage introduces excess nutrients that can fuel algal blooms. Some algae produce toxins harmful to both marine life and humans.
Habitat Degradation: Polluted water harms fish, birds, and other wildlife that depend on healthy waterways. Contaminated habitats reduce biodiversity and disrupt the ecosystem balance.
Floating Debris: Solid waste from sewer overflows often ends up in waterways, creating unsightly debris and further endangering wildlife.
The environmental damage caused by sewer overflows also affects Houstonians’ quality of life. Polluted water reduces the usability of Houston’s recreational spaces and burdens city resources with costly cleanup and restoration efforts. These expenses ultimately fall on rate payers, making it a shared responsibility for everyone to prevent sewer overflows.
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The Environmental Consequences of Sewer Overflows
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Each year, as temperatures drop in Houston, the city faces an alarming rise in sewer overflows due to blockages from FOG. During the holiday season, increased cooking activities combined with colder weather cause grease to solidify more quickly in pipes, contributing to more frequent blockages. Even small amounts of grease poured down drains can accumulate in wastewater pipes and cause dangerous overflows.
When a sewer overflow occurs, raw sewage flows into storm drains and directly into our waterways. This sewage contains harmful bacteria, viruses, and pathogens, posing significant public health risks and further contaminating our environment.
Why Sewer Overflows Increase During the Holiday Season
Preventing sewer overflows starts at home. By making small changes to how you dispose of grease and other materials, you can help protect our city’s sewer system and waterways. Here are three simple ways to help:
#1. Dispose of Grease Properly: After cooking, pour fats, oils, and grease into a heat-safe container, let it cool, and throw it in the trash. Never pour grease down the drain.
#2. Use Sink Strainers: Garbage disposals grind up food particles but don’t prevent grease from clinging to pipes. Using a sink strainer helps catch food particles before they enter the sewer system.
#3. Wipe Utensils Before Washing: Use a paper towel or scraper to remove grease from cookware before rinsing or putting it in the dishwasher. Dispose of greasy paper towels in the trash.
By taking these small steps, you’re helping to protect our environment, prevent health hazards, and reduce the financial strain on the city’s resources.
How You Can Help Prevent Sewer Overflows
Your contribution is vital to maintaining Houston’s clean and healthy water resources. For more ways to get involved, visit www.onewaterhouston.org and take the survey to help us develop solutions that benefit all Houstonians. Together, we can keep our bayous beautiful and protect the natural spaces we all love.
Take Action to Protect Houston’s Waterways
By StoryStudio on November 19, 2024
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Estimates are that a whopping 70% of overflows in Houston are caused by blockages caused by from grease and wipes. These overflows nearly double during holiday months.
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You and households across Houston play a crucial role in preventing SSOs.
#1 Keep harmful items out: When cooking, pour leftover grease into a heat-resistant container, allow it to cool down, then toss it in the trash. In the bathroom, only flush the 3P’s, which are Pee, Poo, and Toilet Paper. Clogs from wipes, rags, and any item other than toilet paper trap grease and cause overflows. This will help reduce the risk of blockages for your household and the entire city.
#2 Use a sink strainer: The garbage disposal only grinds up items before passing them into sewer pipes, which allows the remaining fats, oils, and grease to cling to pipe walls. When these items build up in your sink strainer, dispose of them properly in the trash instead.
#3 Use a paper towel or scraper: Wipe grease from utensils, plates, and cookware before washing them in the sink or dishwasher. The best method is to use paper towels and/or scrapers, then throw the paper towels away afterward.
3 Simple Ways You Can Help
Houston Public Works (HPW) is dedicated to reducing sewer overflow through a combination of proactive maintenance, innovative technology, and public outreach. Key initiatives include:
Preventative Maintenance: HPW regularly repairs and replaces aging wastewater lines to prevent failures before they happen.
Cleaning Schedules: Data-driven plans help identify problem areas, ensuring pipes are kept clear through targeted cleaning efforts.
Intelligent Manhole Monitors: These devices provide early warnings of blockages, allowing HPW crews to respond quickly and prevent overflows.
Public Education: Through the Protect Our Pipes campaign, HPW educates residents on how to prevent SSOs through community outreach, school programs, and advertising.
Partnerships with the Health Department: Regular inspections of businesses that generate grease ensure compliance with waste disposal practices, reducing the amount of FOG entering the sewer system.
Upgrading and Expanding Wastewater Infrastructure: In addition to rehabilitation and replacement, HPW is redesigning and upsizing collection systems and developing wet-weather facilities to manage increased flows and reduce overflow risks during storm events.
What Houston Public Works Is Doing to Prevent Sewer Overflows
Recognizing the gravity of the issue, Houston Public Works (HPW) has implemented a multifaceted strategy to address and prevent sewer overflows. Here are a few of the actions taking place!
Preventative Maintenance: HPW is actively engaged in replacing and repairing wastewater lines to stop SSOs before they occur.
Preventative Cleaning Schedule: HPW generates a pipe cleaning and inspection plan based on analytical tools that incorporate historical data and previous pipe inspections to target problematic areas and mitigate SSOs.
Intelligent Manhole Monitors: These monitors send alerts when the water level in a manhole begins to rise unexpectedly, indicating a blockage forming. This allows a rapid response from the stoppage team to clear blockages and stop many SSOs before they occur.
Outreach and Education: The Protect Our Pipes campaign includes community outreach, educational resources, engagement with students, advertising, and public relations efforts to raise awareness about SSO prevention.
Interdepartmental Coordination: The Houston Health Department regularly inspects commercial grease generators to ensure proper maintenance of grease interceptors and responds to overflow complaints, even taking enforcement actions when necessary.
Why Sewer Overflows Increase During the Holiday Season
Houston, known as the “Bayou City,” is home to over 2,500 miles of bayous and waterways. These natural treasures, such as Buffalo Bayou, offer beautiful recreational spaces for fishing, kayaking, hiking, and wildlife viewing. They also provide critical habitats for a diverse variety of species, including turtles, otters, herons, and fish.