So why, some are asking, is this sewer main break Tredyffrin Townships problem when it is located in another jurisdiction? And some people are asking HOW could this happen?! Ok, good questions so here goes: The answer is that this sewer line is part of a cooperative of municipalities. As explained in a news release on the Tredyffrin Township webiste, Tredyffrin Township is one member of the Valley Creek Trunk Sewer which is comprised of the following municipalities: Easttown Township, East Whiteland Township, Malvern Borough, Tredyffrin Township, and Willistown Township. By agreement among all the member municipalities Tredyffrin is the government that is in charge of getting the sewage from all the municipalities that feed the sewer line from Tredyffrin to the Valley Forge Sewer Treatment plant. If you live in any of these towns and if your home is hooked into the municipal sewer system this is where everything goes when you flush the toilet or take a shower/bath or use your dishwasher/sink. Normally its all kind of invisible to average person. Thats how its supposed to be. But running the sewer system is a HUGE part of the daily operations of both Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships. According to the Easttown Township website: Easttown Township provides collection of sanitary sewage from residents and businesses via gravity flow into thirteen separate pumping stations located throughout the Township. Much of the waste is pumped two and, in some cases, three times before it leaves the Township. These pump stations force the wastewater into the adjacent force and gravity mains of Tredyffrin Township, which conveys the sewage for treatment to either the Valley Forge Sewer Authority (Phoenixville) or Trout Run (Upper Merion). It is important to note that Easttown Township pays “by the gallon” for conveyance and treatment of the wastewater once it leaves the Township. The Township pays for the operation, maintenance and capital improvements to the complex system of gravity lines, force mains, and pump stations that comprise the sanitary sewer system. These costs are reflected on your quarterly sewer bills. As the old saying goes (sewage) runs downhill. Except in most of Easttown where it must be pumped UP hill to make it over the mountain and into the main line (the one that has broken) and ultimately to the sewage treatment plant. According to the Valley Forge Sewer Authority website The Authority owns and operates 90 miles of collection line, 9 pump stations and a regional treatment plant, serving approximately 22,000 customers in nine Chester County municipalities: Charlestown Township, East Pikeland Township, Schuylkill Township, Easttown Township, East Whiteland Township, Malvern Borough, Tredyffrin Township and Willistown Township. Recently, the area was extended to include a portion of West Vincent Township. The Authoritys treatment plant is situated on 54 secluded acres on the banks of the Schuylkill River near its confluence with Perkiomen Creek. The plant operates under permits issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Soooo... thats a lot of stuff being pumped through a 30 inch and aging pipe that according to the report on 6ABC/Action News is a concrete pipe inside a steel sleeve. Given the winter weve had with all the freezing and thawing and freezing and thawing its not hard to imagine an aging pipe might be stressed to the breaking point. The pipe is buried way under the road surface so when it breaks, it could leak for a while. That causes the water (in this case its pretty icky water) to saturate the ground around the broken pipe, creating the sink hole at the iuntersection of routes 252 and 23.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:36:30 +0000
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