Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Advisory

May 19, 2016

Heavy rain this evening caused Portland’s combined sewer system to overflow from the Alder Pump Station Outfall to the Willamette River. Because of increased bacteria in the water, the public should avoid contact with the Willamette River from the Morrison Bridge to the Columbia River confluence for 48 hours after the CSO event ends.

The event began at 4:58 p.m. this evening and lasted about 16 minutes with a volume of 16,500 gallons.

Portland’s combined sewer system carries sewage and stormwater runoff in the same pipes. In December 2011, Portland completed a 20-year program of sewer improvements, including constructing big pipes on both sides of the Willamette River and along the Columbia Slough. The improvements eliminate 99% of CSOs from the slough and 94% from the river.

During extremely heavy rain, the big pipes store large quantities of stormwater and sewage while pumping it to the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant. During very heavy rain storms, some combined sewage can overflow. That is what the system is designed to do and that is the way it operates.

A combined sewer overflow is about 80% stormwater and 20% sanitary sewage. Before the city completed the CSO control program, combined sewers overflowed an average of 50 times a year. Today, the combined system overflows to the Willamette River an average of four times per winter and once every three summers.

For information contact Cheryl Kuck, 503-823-7898, Cheryl.Kuck@portlandoregon.gov.

The Bureau of Environmental Services provides city residents with programs to protect water quality and public health, including wastewater collection and treatment, sewer construction and maintenance, stormwater management, and stream and watershed restoration.

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