Smart Sewer Technology Satisfies EPA Consent Decree, Saves City $400 Million
September 15 2021 - 8:15AM
Business Wire
DoJ, EPA Have Endorsed South Bend’s Updated
Long Term Plan Requiring 60% Less Infrastructure Investment
Delivers Better Environmental Outcomes,
Exceeding Original Overflow And Pollution Control Requirements
Global water technology company, Xylem (NYSE:XYL), is delivering
the advanced “smart sewer” system enabling the City of South Bend,
Indiana, to exceed the requirements of a wastewater consent decree
for 60% less capital investment (CapEx) than originally
planned.
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Smart Sewer Technology Satisfies EPA
Consent Decree, Saves City $400 Million (Photo: Business Wire)
The US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the US
Department of Justice (DoJ) have now formally endorsed the City’s
long-term sewer plan, based on the advanced technology. The EPA,
the DoJ and the City of South Bend originally entered into a
consent decree in 2012 in response to the City’s aging sewer
infrastructure that frequently overflowed, discharging millions of
gallons of sewage and stormwater into the landmark St. Joseph River
each year. The plan to address the problem was set to cost South
Bend ratepayers $713 million in capital improvements. But the
parties have now announced they are amending the original agreement
with a revised plan based on “smart sewer” technology. The City’s
new approach, using Xylem’s wastewater network optimization
solution, provides “better protection at lower cost,” according to
the EPA.
“We are so pleased to be partnering with the visionary team at
the City of South Bend, providing the digital innovation and
insights to make this transformation possible,” said Patrick
Decker, Xylem’s CEO. “Their hard work has now resulted in a
ground-breaking outcome which will save every family in the city
thousands of dollars while enabling them to enjoy a more beautiful
St. Joseph River, and have access to cleaner water more
affordably.”
“We will spend 400 million dollars less than originally
estimated, achieving greater environmental benefit and level of
service, just by optimizing the existing system in the ground,”
said Eric Horvath, Director of Public Works for the City of South
Bend.
“Capturing and using data from sewers used to sound strange,”
Decker continued. “But our water infrastructure increasingly has to
deal with sudden and extreme weather events, while meeting
regulatory requirements and protecting our communities. South Bend
is among a growing number of cities modernizing their water systems
with advanced digital solutions to make their communities more
resilient. We are proud to serve them in this journey.”
The City of South Bend’s revised plan consists of a monitoring
system of more than 165 sensors and software agents located
throughout the City’s urban watershed, managing 13 automated gates
and valves. Real-time decision support technology enables the
network to react to sudden wet weather events and avoid flooding by
quickly moving flows to under-utilized parts of the network.
Operators receive overflow information via control room screens,
smartphones and tablets – giving them the ability to override the
system at any time, if needed.
The result has been a dramatic reduction in combined sewer
overflow volumes (roughly 1 billion gallons per year), and a
more-than 50% drop in E. coli concentration in the St. Joseph
River. In addition to the capital works savings, the City is also
benefiting from $1.5 million per year in reduced operations and
maintenance costs.
The City has implemented its new control plan based on the Xylem
solution working alongside deployment partners American
Structurepoint, LimnoTech, and Stantec.
About Xylem
Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company
committed to solving critical water and infrastructure challenges
with innovation. Our more than 16,000 diverse employees delivered
revenue of $4.88 billion in 2020. We are creating a more
sustainable world by enabling our customers to optimize water and
resource management and helping communities in more than 150
countries become water-secure. Join us at www.xylem.com.
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Media Houston Spencer +1 (914) 240-3046 Houston.Spencer@xyleminc.com
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