Carrollton wastewater system overwhelmed by flooding

The City of Carrollton Public Works Department reported Saturday that due to the recent flooding, the City's wastewater provider was overwhelmed with the volume of intake from customer cities.

Large amounts of water entering the treatment plant caused the City of Carrollton's wastewater collection system to become overloaded and subsequently resulted in releases of wastewater at two separate locations: 1128 IH-35 (Hutton Branch) and 2200 Hutton Drive in Carrollton. The spills occurred approximately from the morning of Friday, May 29 through the morning of Friday, June 5.

Once the wastewater treatment plant was able to treat the extreme volume of water, the locations of the spills were cleaned up. The areas were washed down and the wash water was vacuumed up. The areas around the spill sites were disinfected.

The City of Carrollton completed the cleanup at these locations Friday, June 5 and will continue to monitor the water quality near these sites. At this time, no environmental impact has been observed in these surrounding areas.

"The City was proactive in cleaning these two areas daily as soon as the spills began," said Robert Kopp, Public Works Director. "The department monitored and will continue to monitor the spill sites to maintain preparedness."

The volume of the spill at 1128 IH-35 is estimated at 201,600 gallons, and the estimated volume at 2200 Hutton is 100,800 gallons. Both spills are listed as domestic wastewater and rainwater spills affecting the Hutton Branch Creek area from IH- 35 to the eastside of Luna Road.

"Due to the recent flooding the City of Carrollton's contract wastewater treatment facilities were inundated with large volumes of water," said Brian Little, Carrollton's Water Utilities Manager. "This event caused the wastewater collection system to back up resulting in the release of wastewater out of the manholes. Appropriate local government officials and City Council were notified and updated during these events."

Little said because of the flooding in the affected areas, full containment was not possible; however, the manholes were sandbagged to minimize overflows.

For more information on the situation, contact Brian Little Water Utilities Manager 972-466-3476. For more information on the City's Public Works and Environmental services departments, visit cityofcarrollton.com.