Six Feet Under
In 2010, Kansas City, MO faced legal action from the federal Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Kansas City, MO on average discharged 6.5 billion gallons of untreated sewage, such as residential and industrial wastewater, into the Missouri River. This violation of the federal Clean Water Act resulted in water pollution and contaminated waterways. At the same time, it is emblematic of an aging sewage system that is growing more expensive to fix and maintain reactively.
As a result, Kansas City is expected to invest US$2.5 billion over 25 years in sewage management technologies by various companies such as Opti and EmNet. Sensors installed underneath manhole covers monitor the amount of water entering the sewage system. The in-system flow data collected are used to control a network of gates within the existing sewage system. This maximizes temporary detention of sewage in under-utilized parts of the network while preventing the “flash flooding” of the sewage system that have led to sewage overflows. Modeling of the sewage system has identified possible break points that has led to proactive maintenance works, halving the number of water main breaks in 2017 and reducing the costs to businesses and residents.
However, the expense of the scheme implies that public works on such a scale might not be feasible for cash-strapped cities in the developing world without a robust communications network. Ironically, however, it is these burgeoning cities which require these technologies to prevent further environmental degradation and sanitary crises. Novel public-private partnership schemes such as utility concessions might prove to be the solution to these issues. The environment does not deserve to go further down the toilet than it already has.
