Message to City Residents: Sewer Cleaning Project
Message from Mayor Jim Belquist
Yesterday Veit Construction Co started the cleaning and televising of the NR sewer system. When you notice the trucks in your area, please put all toilet seats down in your residence or business. The process, one city block at a time, is to shoot air into the pipe, followed by clean water. In some instances, clear clean water will shoot up the toilets. (See following article).
The project will be completed by November 1st or earlier. Thank you for your patience and assistance during this important process.
September 16, 2014 - For the past several years, many New Rockford Residents have experienced significant sanitary sewer and storm water backup. New Rockford is one of few remaining North Dakota cities who have a combined sanitary sewer and storm water system.
To address the problem, the city recently started a process to separate the systems. The first step will be to clean and televise the present system. Televising the sewer lines will provide information for the city engineers to appropriately configure the new system.
The City of New Rockford has contracted with Veit Specialty Contracting of Rogers, MN, to perform preventative maintenance by cleaning the sanitary sewer system. This will improve the sewer’s performance, reduce the chance of backups, and is the first step in the pending sewer system separation project.
The cleaning process causes a vacuum in the sewer. This will not affect most homes, but some homes may be affected that have inadequate or partially blocked drain vents. The vacuum may cause “P-traps” (the little S shaped bend in the pipe under sinks and drains) to be sucked dry. Should you notice a sewer smell resulting from this, run a little water in your drains to refill the P-traps. It is recommended that you put the toilet seat(s) down and cover floor drains on the days that the sewer cleaning is scheduled. This will minimize any possible splashing of the P-traps water in homes that are poorly vented. Please take these precautions during the following dates.
September 8, 2014 – November 1, 2014.
It is anticipated the physical separation of the sanitary and storm sewer system will begin in late 2015. Thank you for your help and cooperation.