Sanitary Sewer Separation Project
Historical Perspective: Although the City did separate sanitary and storm sewers in the 80’s and 90’s, it failed to eliminate regulators that continually served as a connection between the storm and sanitary sewers. The City also failed to fully recognize the true impact of private property footer drains and leaking clay sanitary sewer leads that connect to the City’s sanitary sewer mains.
As a result, multiple pumps were used to manage the situation by dumping raw sewage into the City’s stormwater system. City staff also manually discharged sewage directly from the Birch Street pump station into the river. Furthermore, City staff failed to report the illegal actions and actively authored multiple reports stating that few if any events had happened even though clear actions were taken to pump active sewage into the river for decades. However, that reporting never happened, and discharges continued without proper permits and reporting. These false actions were also reported to the EPA in July 2020.
As a result of self-reporting the violation, the state issued a “Director’s Findings and Orders” requiring the City of Maumee to stop illegally discharging sewage into the Maumee River. It also stipulates and requires massive testing and study of the problem.
In December 2021, the City of Maumee approved a nearly $900,000 contract Stantec, a global engineering firm specializing in consulting and engineering services, to study the city’s sewer system. Immediate work also began to repair, reline, and replace sewer lines on streets and alleys and, several catch basins in commercial parking lots that were incorrectly tied to the sanitary system were corrected.
Mandates by the EPA have also required the following action:
1. Sewer Evaluation Study: Specifies major tasks associated with further authoring a Sewer System Evaluation Study (“SSES”)
2. Public Notification Plan: Inform the public of all sanitary overflow locations, signs, postings, and inserts as applicable. This plan remains ongoing.
3. Emergency Response Plan: Develop procedures for emergency response to surcharge events.
4. Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance Program: Mitigate and stop sanitary overflows as soon as possible for all parts of the sanitary collection system. This program remains ongoing.
5. Sewer System Evaluation Study (“SSES”): Identify sources and quantities of clear water infiltration and inflow (“I & I”) entering the sanitary sewer system and identifies all feasible, cost-effective actions needed to eliminate or minimize excessive I&I entering the sanitary sewer system that causes or contributes to sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and water in basements.
The 2024 SSES report has been uploaded to OEPA. You can view/download the file here:
Sanitary Sewer Inspection
Ordinance 20-2024 (REPEALED)
Real Property Conveyance
Background and purpose:
On June 17, council passed Ordinance 20-2024, which outlined procedures to inspect sanitary sewer connections on real properties in the City of Maumee at the time of sale or as requested.
On July 31, 2024 the ordinance was repealed. The decision to repeal the ordinance was made after carefully listening to and considering the concerns raised by residents.
City of Maumee Sanitary Sewer Grant Funds Program
to assist qualifying residents by helping to cover the costs related to replacing or relining lateral connections to the city sewer mains in the city right-of-way that have improper lateral connections, laterals made of material known to leak, and/or consist of damaged or deteriorated material. This applies to residents who completed repairs while the ordinance was in effect, as well as those residents who voluntarily made or who plan to make such repairs.
These are the final ‘Findings and Orders” provided by the Ohio EPA.
Community Roundtable to Discuss Maumee’s Sanitary Sewer Fix
We want you to be part of the solution. Please join a community roundtable session to provide valuable input on the solutions needed to address our city’s sanitary sewer problems and comply with the Clean Water Act.
To ensure broad participation and engagement opportunities multiple meetings have been scheduled. The meetings are capped at 50 people to foster meaningful participation and constructive dialogue among attendees.
Where: Maumee City Council Chambers, 400 Conant Street
Time: 6:00 p.m.
When: Next series of Meeting Dates: 8/27 & 8/29
In roundtable discussions, which are distinct from official council meetings, no council action will be taken. These sessions are designed to foster open dialogue and allow individuals to express their concerns and share ideas in a comfortable setting. By prioritizing the candid nature of these discussions, we encourage a more genuine exchange of ideas among participants without the potential constraints of being recorded. Therefore, there will be no video recordings of the meetings either through the city’s system or attendees’ live streaming channels.
Registration is required and you must be a Maumee resident to attend. There is one name and email per registration. Therefore, if a husband and wife want to attend, they both have to register separately.
Register Here:
Citizen Questions & Concerns:
We thank the citizens of Maumee who are engaged and asking questions by attending the city-hosted roundtable discussions, which began July 31 and will continue through August 29. Residents also attended meetings hosted by Maumee Council Member Phil Leinbach.
Hundreds have participated in these discussions and the input from attendees has been compiled and carefully reviewed.
To view citizen questions and answers click here:
To view the suggestions that citizens have brought forward to address the issue click here:
In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck Marohn addresses the issue facing Maumee as he explains the history of sewer infrastructure, how the Clean Water Act affects cities and the very limited options that cities have to handle this kind of challenge. He also points out that the Strongest Town Contest is about celebrating cities that are working hard to improve, rather than finding cities that are perfect. Just because Maumee is facing this challenge does not mean that it’s a failure — and it’s not alone in this struggle, either. All cities are either facing this challenge, too, or will be facing it in the near future. That’s the consequence of decades of unproductive growth.
We apologize, but multiple issues with audio and video were experienced while recording this public meeting. Everything has been captured, but there may be parts where the video drops or the audio is distorted.
The heat map above indicates areas of inflow and infiltration in the sanitary sewer system, with the highest area in red. This information is based on data collected from flow meters provided to Maumee by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Proactive Inspection:
What if I am not selling my home but I want a sewer inspection?
A property owner who is not selling their home but still wants to ensure that their sanitary lines are properly connected may request a sewer inspection by completing the form below.
If the sewer inspection deems it necessary to correct the system, the property owner will have 90 days to get such repair work completed. There are instances in which additional time may be granted.
For additional information please contact: conveyance@maumee.org or call 419-897-7127.
To request a sewer inspection, please complete the following form: