The cities of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, have completed their combined sewer overflow (CSO) projects well ahead of schedule.

Grand Rapids completed its project three years ahead of a state mandated deadline, and Fort Wayne at least four years ahead of schedule and under budget.

The Grand Rapids sewer system was constructed more than 100 years ago, and during heavy rainfall CSOs caused flooding and allowed untreated wastewater to be discharged into the Grand River. The State of Michigan issued a mandate to the city in 1988 to eliminate all CSOs by 2019.

Fort Wayne spent $12 million and reduced CSOs affecting the St. Joseph River to just one a year, down from 13. However, the city still has until 2025 to complete a 5-mile-long tunnel, 12 to 16 feet in diameter, to comply with federal mandates to reduce the city’s overall overflows to five from the 71 a year, among other improvements. Construction on the tunnel is scheduled to begin in 2017 and be finished in 2023.

Sources: The Journal Gazette, Black & Veatch press release