Year in Review: The Top 10 Headlines of 2015

Take another look at the news stories that made headlines in the municipal sewer and water industry throughout the past year.
Year in Review: The Top 10 Headlines of 2015

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Emergency crews in Nogales, Arizona, were called to a house that flooded as a result of a wastewater backup Fourth of July weekend. Learn what caused millions of dollars worth of damage by reading No. 9 on this year's Top 10 list.

Top 10 News Stories of 2015

10. Robber Apprehended by Water Utility Employees
Two Dallas Water Utilities employees went above and beyond their call of duty when they stopped a robbery and subdued the suspect until police arrived to arrest him.

9. Drug Smugglers Destroy Sewer Line
Millions of dollars in repairs were needed after bundles of marijuana caused a major backup in a city’s wastewater system.

8. Sewer Worker Charged With Selling Heroin From City Truck
A Pittsburgh Water and Sewer employee was charged with drug offenses for the second time this year after he was arrested for attempting to sell heroin to an undercover police officer from the utility’s work truck.

7. Jay Z Rebuked by Denver Water in Open Letter
Denver Water publicly called out rapper and music producer Jay Z in an open and light-hearted letter for “under-appreciating the value of water and recently claiming it was free.”

6. Water Department Employee Worked to Death
A three-judge panel in Pennsylvania ruled that 48-year-old Robert Dietz, who died of a heart attack during a 14-hour work shift in 2007, was worked to death while performing hard, physical labor for the Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority.

5. Crazy Sewage Stunt Brings Charges
A Newfoundland man was in some hot water with municipal officials after he brought a bucket full of waste collected from his property and spilled it on the front desk of the Placentia Town Hall, complaining that wastewater has flowed in the river running near his property and has been backing up into his house since the early ‘90s.

4. Body Discovered in Sewer System
A wastewater operations crew in Eugene, Oregon, was in for a morbid discovery during a routine maintenance job pumping grease and debris from a wastewater wet well when they discovered a human body on May 27.

3. Chicago Water Department Employee Shot
On Oct. 23, a City of Chicago Water Department worker was shot just before 8 a.m. shortly after arriving to the sewer repair project job site in the South Side Auburn-Gresham neighborhood. He was the second water department employee in the United States to be shot while on the job this year.

2. Photos of Water Worker’s Backside Ignites Controversy
A town manager's antics result in harassment claims by two public works employees who were fired earlier this year.

1. Worms Invade Neighborhood Drinking Water
Residents from the Woodland Acres Subdivision near Houston, Texas, were dealing with wormy tap water after a power outage disrupted services at J&S Water, the private company that services the area.



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