How Much Rainwater Are You Treating? Solutions and Budgeting for Effective I&I Reduction for a TCEQ SSO Initiative from Conroe's Perspective

Treating large volumes of rainwater due to inflow and infiltration (I&I) in the wastewater collection system is a shared experience of many utilities across the US. The City of Conroe is facing the same challenge with their aging wastewater infrastructure serving 87,000+ residents. The issue is not limited to treatment costs; I&I reduces the wastewater system's capacity, increases risk of sewer overflows, and can result in expensive capital improvement projects that vie for a share of the City's budget. Conroe's story is a valuable case study for utilities of all sizes in pro-actively tackling this issue. This presentation lays out Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study (SSES) challenges from Conroe's perspective, discuss their Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Initiative with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and walks through the action items and future planning steps of a comprehensive SSES program.