Controlled Combined Sewer Overflow

Back when most older cities were built, it was common practice to have one single sewer pipe into which both household wastewater and stormwater from the streets flowed. In suburbs and rural systems, it is more common for stormwater to flow to the nearest water body through completely separate pipes. The disadvantage of a Combined Sewer System is that when it rains, the volume of stormwater can increase dramatically in a short amount of time. During particularly heavy rainfall, the amount of flow becomes much greater than the system can handle, and so overflow pipes built into the system discharge the mixture of sewage and rainwater into local streams and rivers. While obviously not ideal for wildlife and public health, this prevents the mixed sewage from backing up into homes and the streets of the city itself. Camden City, Gloucester City, and the CCMUA each own a portion of this hydraulically connected Combined Sewer System. Together, these three entities created the Long Term Control Plan: a roadmap for a sequence of large infrastructure projects designed to reduce the amount of combined sewer overflows to no more than 15% of the total yearly flow in the system. This will protect the public from waterborne disease, reduce trash and pollution in our local waterways, and enhance the environmental productivity of our region's ecosystems.