As the surprise tropical storm rolled through town Monday morning, you had to be wondering whether or not the storm itself would knock whatever competitiveness remains in this year's mayor's race on its ass.
Those hoping that would happen due to its potential implications in the St. Pete mayor's race were probably pretty disappointed that there were no significant sewage mishaps that occurred due to Tropical Storm Emily or the rainy weather that followed.
Now that it's Thursday, they can take solace in the news that it turns out there actually was one hiccup.
Bill Logan, spokesman for the city's Public Works Department, said via text message that 3,000 gallons of partially treated sewage leaked into the ground at the Northwest Sewage Plant at 1160 62nd Ave. NE Wednesday due to the failure of a pump.
"Upon further investigation, it was discovered that a pump sensor was inundated by the heavier flow of the plant due to the heavy rains," Logan's text read.
He added that the entire spill was contained on the property and did not pose any threat to the surrounding neighborhood.
If it were any other year, such an event probably would not have made headlines (as most didn't prior to 2015, even when spill volumes numbered in the tens of thousands of gallons), but given the city's recent discharges of large volumes of partially treated sewage into local waterways due to lack of any better options, local media have a trained eye on wastewater treatment facilities every time it rains.
Plus, it's an election year in which one candidate is trying to blame all of the city's sewer problems on the other.
The city also made use of its injection wells over the rainy week.
In compliance with Florida Department of Environmental Protection permitting, the city disposed of 140 million gallons of reclaimed water — the same level of quality many residents use to water their yards, Logan said — in city injection wells created for that purpose.
That reclaimed water came from all over the city, and was treated the same way all of the city's reclaimed water was treated.
While it is a high volume, it's important to note that many cities and counties (including Hillsborough and Manatee) use injection wells as a means of disposing of excess reclaimed water.
Logan said in a text there are 180 of them in the state and 30 more slated to be drilled.
"That is what is helping keep us from unauthorized discharges," Logan said via text.
The city is currently updating its wastewater infrastructure to comply with a state consent order requiring the city to overhaul it to the tune of more than $300 million.
