LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The strong sewage smell in Louisville is back, and the city is pouring millions of dollars down the drain in its latest efforts to quell the smell.
They are replacing hundreds of storm water drains mostly in west Louisville. The new catch basins are supposed to trap water and keep the smell in the sewer drain.
"Oh man, it is awful, awful," Rhonda Haynes said.
The pleasant smell of a grill is just enough to keep the odor from the street at bay.
"It is hard to describe," Haynes said. "It smells like some kind of toxic gas. It is real foul. It will have your stomach upset."
Right in front of Haynes' home is a street drain that leads to the sewer system.
"It will wake you up at night time too," he said. "You're asleep. The odors are that bad."
The drain is one of 13 such drains MSD has replaced in the Park Duvalle neighborhood at a cost of $373,000. Sheryl Lauder of MSD said these new catch basin drains work like the pipes under you kitchen sink.
"The curved pipe under your sink is the same concept," she said. "As long as there is water sitting in that curve, you're good. If it dries out, the sewer odor can come up into your bath or kitchen."
MSD estimates they will spend $40 million over the next couple years — mainly in west Louisville — replacing street catch basin drains.
"There are always choices that have to be made," Lauder said. "The $40 million figure does include other work other than catch basins."
That includes $1.3 million in the California neighborhood and $2.7 million in Shawnee. MSD is working on the cost to replace 73 drains in Chickasaw, 54 in Taylor Berry and 747 in the Russell neighborhood.
Dominique Mosley, who lives in the Park Duvalle neighborhood, said she was overjoyed when the MSD crews fix the catch basin drain near her house.
"I don't like that smell," Mosley said. "It just makes me sick."
The hot dry weather has ushered the smell back to her section of the neighborhood.
"When it rains and then it dries up, it get worse," Mosley said.
MSD has a number answered by a human during regular business hours 502-540-6000 or their website or you can file a complaint on the "smell my city" app.
Related Stories:
- City of Louisville promises to take action against smelly sewers this summer
- MSD plans 5 public meetings to 'get in front' of rotten smell that hits Louisville in drier months
- MSD hosting meetings to update neighborhoods on initiatives to manage sewer odors in Louisville
- 'It smells like rotten eggs' | Neighbors voice concerns over foul smell in Louisville
- What's that smell? MSD explains uptick in reported odors around Louisville
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