CSO Elimination Mandate Develops into Voluntary Success for Louisville MSD: Methods for Private Property Disconnections

Presently, concentrated efforts in cities across the United States are underway to eliminate combined sewer overflows (CSO). These vast projects have been sparked by Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mandates to reduce urban water quality issues. One particular EPA mandate involved a CSO elimination project in Louisville, Kentucky that utilized a distinctive approach. Working with individual property owners connected to the particular CSO sewershed, Louisville's Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) obtained over eighty percent participation to remove stormwater, one downspout at a time, from the combined sewer system. Consequently, the ample reduction of stormwater resulted in the ability to close the CSO structure.