Repairs To Leave A Main Sewer Line In Superior ‘Like New’, Fed Provides Half-Million In Funding

You can't see it.  It's almost one hundred years old.  But with the repairs currently underway, one of the main sewer lines in Superior will finish up "like new".  And, the city will have completed the project with almost a half-million dollars that it didn't have to spend of its own.

One of the main sewer lines in Superior - connecting the South End neighborhood to the treatment plant - is in the middle of the repairs.  And it's needed it for a while.  According to details in the article in the Superior Telegram [paywall], the sewer line was installed in 1939 and has existed as "a series of pipes held together with a mastic substance and ropes" since then.  While it might have been considered high tech back then, sewer line construction has come a long way since.

However, instead of replacing the pipe, the City of Superior is repairing it; or rather, using "cure-in-place" lining to provide a new, fluid transportation channel.  Erin Abrahamson, with the Superior Environmental Services Division explains:

"Once all of this is done...it will essentially be a brand new sewer system.  It's going to be huge.  It will significantly reduce the amount of clear water that enters our system.  It's something we would have gotten to eventually, but it's moved up because of the money."

The money Abrahamson talks about is funding from the United States federal government. And, Superior didn't set out to find it - it found the city.  Abrahamson shares "This was a surprise to receive this grant.  It's huge for Superior".

And, the $450,000 in federal funds won't have to be paid back. Steve Roberts, Superior's Environmental Services Director explains:

"It should be a good project for us.  It's one we were likely to have to do anyway.  This was an opportunity to leverage the city's wastewater budget to also pull in that federal grant".

That will likely mean that property owners won't see their taxes go up to fund any of the work.  In total, the City of Superior has included a $1 million line item into the budget for the project, but the federal grant will ease the expenditure.

Accepting the federal funds still requires an official action by the Superior City Council. That step will occur at the October 18 meeting.