Storm water project aims to stop sewage from entering Wabash River

A nearly $12 million project is building on Lafayette's efforts to stop sewage from entering the Wabash River.

Wabash river.

News 18's joe paul has been covering lafayette's storm water management efforts.

He joins us live with an update on this latest project.

Joe?

In the past, when lafayette's combined sewer and storm water systems became overwhelmed by rain and snow melt, the overflow was redirected to the wabash river.

But several projects are changing that.

As we've previously reported, the city has added several massive underground storage tanks.

These tanks hold the excess storm water and sewage until it can be redirected to the water treatment plant.

The next tank will be installed near the pearl river lift station on chestnut street, and will hold up to one-point-five million gallons of combined sewer overflow.

Lafayette renew superintendent brad talley says this tank is much smaller thanks to the city's storm water management efforts so far.

All of the rain barrels that we've been able to get out into the community, the rain gardens, the bio swales, all of that takes the storm water and keeps it out of the system, out of the combined system, and helps us reduce the amount of combined sewers we have to treat.

The smaller tank means about 20- million-dollars in savings.

The city will pay bowen engineering nearly 12-million- dollars to install it, as well as a 390- kilowatt solar array to provide 90 percent of the lift station's electricity needs.

As we've previously reported, bowen was also hired to install tanks near canal road and murdock park.

The latter one had to be completely torn out and is in the process of being rebuilt due to critical structural issues.

It's being paid by bowen at no cost to the city.

And talley says this new project won't increase user fees due to the savings from the smaller tank.

Reporting live near the wabash river, joe paul, news 18.

The city of lafayette has sworn