Salina (WSYR-TV) - Working hard to avoid sewer backups as the system flooded with storm water, Onondaga County says the Ley Creek Pump Station used a backup pump to operate far beyond its normal capacity.
Employees also used sand bags to keep the water back from the facility and protect the electrical transformer that powers the station.
On a normal day the station pumps 11 million gallons. Tuesday, it pumped about 53 million gallons, and about 43 million gallons on Wednesday.
The Ley Creek Pump Station is one of 150 in the county. It serves homes in DeWitt, Salina, and Mattydale. If it fails or can't keep up, sewer backups could result. Tuesday night the County issued a warning about those backups.
Shortly before 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night, the backup pump was turned off, a sign that the worst has likely passed.
Water department works to keep pump station free of flood overflow
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Extra employees are working Wednesday night to keep a close eye on the water level at the Ley Creek Pump Station. With more rain expected, the concern remains that the flooding of the pump station could lead to sewer back-ups for thousands of residents.
The water levels at the Ley Creek Pump Station have gone down, but they’re still high by normal standards. The acting water commissioner for Onondaga County says crews are loaded with extra employees trying to keep a close eye on the operation and to make sure there are enough sand bags.
After a night of rain, workers had sunny, dry weather to work in on Wednesday as they tried to get the pump station back on its feet.
“We still have some residual water in the pump room…we’re pumping that out today,” said acting commissioner Michael Lannon. “We’ve got our electrical staff making sure the equipment is okay.”
Tuesday downpours overwhelmed Ley Creek on Tuesday and water began to make its way into the pump station, according to Lannon.
Water overflow swelled as high as two feet inside the station.
“Normally, this station pumps around 11 million gallons,” Lannon said. “Last night, we got up to 50 million gallons.”
To take some of the stress off the system and to avoid sewer back-ups in homeowners’ basements, a diversion pump was used to send water back into the creek.
“Worst case scenario, the water would have rose high enough to short out the motors and, at that point, that pump station would have been out of service,” Lannon said.
The Ley Creek Pump Station is one of 150 in the county. It serves homes in DeWitt, Salina, and Mattydale.
Anyone who has a sewer back-up in the county is being asked to call (315) 435-3157.
