The Village of Barnesville Water Department with the assistance of the Ohio Rural Water Association will be smoke testing the sanitary sewer system on N. Lincoln Avenue, Cherry Street, the North end of N. Arch Street, Grey Lane, & Mil-Cow Lane, on Wednesday July 10th, 2024 weather permitting.
This smoke test is designed to find illegal connections to the sanitary sewer system such as footer drains, downspouts, and sump pumps that create major flow problems in the system when rain occurs and have even created flooding in some neighborhoods. These illegal connections are a major contributor to surplus inflow and infiltration (I & I) being dumped into the system and creating problems for residents not only in the vicinity but further down-stream as well. This additional I & I must be treated upon reaching the wastewater treatment plant requiring additional chemicals and energy. The additional treatment requirements create a burden not only to the plant as far as maximum limits but also to each resident of Barnesville in the form of additional cost for treatment being reflected in their monthly sewer bills.
Please be aware of this test date as smoke could infiltrate your home. The village sanitary sewer lines will be filled with a machine made smoke via the manholes throughout the area. We will then check to see if smoke is rising from resident’s downspouts or from around their foundations. This harmless smoke could enter your home through basement floor drains if proper traps were not installed when your home was built. These traps are standard plumbing installation procedures that are designed to prevent sewer gas from entering your residence. If you are aware that these traps do not exist in your residence, then you may want to plug the floor drains on this date to keep this situation from occurring. Traps that do exist should be filled with water to full capacity. Pictures will be taken of any violations and residents will be notified if they have illegal connections to the sanitary sewer system.
Feel free to contact the Barnesville Water Department at (740) 425-3672 or the Village Administrator at (740) 425-1880 with any questions that may arise in regards to this matter.