LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville MSD is making progress on repairing the busted sewer lines under Harrods Creek, despite winter weather, rain and flooding.
A sewer leak was reported in November. Before the leak could be stopped, it’s predicted more than 1 million gallons of sewage spilled into local waterways. Since November, all the waste water has been re-routed, and no one’s service has been disrupted.
The leak was reported behind the Woodlands neighborhood. So in December, crews started digging 35 feet down to find the pipe. However, once they reached the pipe, the lines were stable. So crews sent a camera down the pipe, which runs under Harrods Creek in two places and under US 42. The break was located 750 feet down the pipe from where the leak was reported.
This sewer line is actually comprised of two pipes, side by side, encased in a larger pipe. And the break is in both pipes in about the same location.
Currently, crews are installing a temporary pipe, which runs 1,500 feet between the two sites. That temporary pipe is already underground. It needs to be connected at both junctions, and then the wastewater will be routed back underground while the repairs are happening on the original pipes.
It’s still a mystery what caused the sewer line, which is only 7 years old, to fail.
“We have our suspicions,” said Sheryl Lauder, the communications program manager for MSD. “But we won’t really know until we get to the point where we actually have to send human beings down into the bigger one, the 42-inch one, to have a closer look.”
The repairs are complicated and time-consuming because of all the rain and rising water levels. Each time the creek floods, the equipment has to be pulled back. Then when the water recedes, crews have to start all over again.
“It’s been so challenging,” Lauder said. “We are in a flood plain, and it’s flood season. So Mother Nature is doing here thing, and the river is going up and down.”
It’s unclear how long the repairs will take, but Lauder said it could be weeks still. MSD is trying to move as quickly as possible, because these emergency repairs are expected to cost millions of dollars.
“It definitely hurts the budget,” Lauder said. “We don’t have a total on this yet, but it’s definitely in the millions. We’ll find the money. We have the money. It just takes it away from something else. Something else will get delayed because of this.
Even once the original pipes are fixed, the new temporary pipe underground will stay there as a backup.
Lauder said MSD is doing everything necessary to make sure no one’s service is disrupted and apologizes for the inconvenience of the repair work.
“We apologize to the neighborhoods that we are greatly disrupting," Lauder said. "Nobody wants this in their backyard."
Related Stories:
- Broken Prospect sewer pipe condition 'worse than expected'
- MSD stops sewage overflow into Harrods Creek
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
