Control what you can, accept what you can't. How CMOM can reduce the impact of SSOs.

Lake County is in Northeastern Ohio, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Cleveland along the shores of Lake Erie. Serving a number of cities, townships and villages, the Lake County Department of Utilities (LCDU), in addition to solid waste and water services, is responsible for the operations and maintenance of over 500 miles of sanitary sewers, with 32 pump stations, 2 major water resource recovery facilities (Gary L. Kron and Madison) and 4 package plants. In coordination with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) that occurred in 2012 and 2013, Lake County Department of Utilities (LCDU) negotiated with USEPA Region V to enter into an Administrative Order on Consent (ACO) effective in August of 2014. The ACO required a public notification program, update of the Overflow Emergency Response Plan, update of the existing Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM) Program and annual progress reporting. The most significant undertaking from the ACO was the CMOM Program. Throughout the Program development, the project team focused on an implementation plan that allowed LCDU to control its own destiny to solve what they considered to be their most pressing issues. The CMOM implementation plan needed to address specific gaps and provide framework for reducing SSOs. LCDU ended up with a plan that had customized initiatives and milestones that were mutually agreeable with USEPA. Since 2015, LCDU has been implementing the CMOM program and has realized specific, measurable results including a recent reduction in SSOs. This paper will provide discussion of some of the more impactful initiatives, priorities, lessons learned and outcomes of CMOM program implementation.