Map Of Combined Sewer Systems In The United States

Map Of Combined Sewer Systems In The United States

From the EPA:

Combined sewer system are remnants of the country's early infrastructure and so are typically found in older communities. Combined sewer systems serve roughly 772 communities containing about 40 million people.

In Southeastern Wisconsin, Milwaukee has the only combined sewer system, hence that one dot in Wisconsin you see on the map. More from the EPA:

Combined sewer systems are sewers that are designed to collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe. Most of the time, combined sewer systems transport all of their wastewater to a sewage treatment plant, where it is treated and then discharged to a water body. During periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, however, the wastewater volume in a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the sewer system or treatment plant. For this reason, combined sewer systems are designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater directly to nearby streams, rivers, or other water bodies.

These overflows, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), contain not only stormwater but also untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. They are a major water pollution concern for the approximately 772 cities in the U.S. that have combined sewer systems.

Comments

[steveegg]

Nice map, though it somehow missed Superior; it also has a combined sewer system.

Of note; Milwaukee had the 9th-most overflow outlets as of 1998.

[Woody]

Our sewer system connects with the water system. We have to flush our toilets so that they have water downstream.