Op Ed: Record Rains Bring New Challenges for Borough Authority

As 2011 comes to a close, Hellertown residents will remember the year for its , and . Pennsylvania receives an average of about 40 inches of rain per year. This year, however, the Lehigh Valley has received a record ~66 inches and the year is not over!

Healthy rainfall in years like 2011 helps nature provide the ecosystem services we depend upon and so frequently take for granted. For example, the records rains have fully recharged the springs in the Polk Valley watershed that are Hellertown's primary source of water. During , the springs continued to flow, providing fresh water to the town. In a normally dry fall season the springs do not flow and Hellertown needs to pump water from its wells. That would have been impossible this October  without power, and Hellertown could have run out of water after just two days. Imagine how uncomfortable it would have been for the town to have lacked heat, electricity and water. It is a testament to and his contemporaries that Hellertown has such a robust, gravity-driven and filtered water system.

However, the extra rain has also saddled Hellertown with some challenges by raising the water table beneath the town. As the water table rises, ground water seeps into the sewer system and flows to the Bethlehem regional treatment plant. Since Hurricane Irene hit in late August, Hellertown's sewer system is delivering almost half a million gallons of flow above normal every day. We are not alone in this regard, as the flows from all of the surrounding municipalities that feed the regional treatment plant have been elevated for several months. Nevertheless, Hellertown is billed for the volume of its sewer flows, so the high water table is currently translating into unprecedented additional costs to the .

Needless to say, the Authority has redirected all available resources into finding leaks in the sewer system and grouting those leaks to seal them. With a little bit of cooperation from Mother Nature, the rains will return to normal, and the grouting and eventual decline in the water table will ensure that the flows return to their normal, sustainable volumes over the next few months.

As a customer, you play an important part in this recovery. Any clear water that flows from sump pumps or rain gutters, for example, that are tied into the sewer system, contributes to additional, unnecessary costs. Many homeowners may have purchased their homes without knowing where their sump pumps discharge to. Please make sure they do not discharge to the sewer, but rather are discharging outside the home. Customers are reminded to check for these incorrect discharges and disconnect them when they are found.

, sewer system grouting, reconstruction of the filter building, rehabilitating the protective housings around the Polk Valley springs, and the rapid response to the numerous storms and floods of 2011 are just some of the ways that the Hellertown Borough Authority is working to serve you better. We appreciate your patience with these and future projects to modernize the water and sewer systems and, as always, we encourage your feedback.

Hellertown Borough Authority Board Members and Staff

Hellertown