With heavy storms marching toward southeastern Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has issued a Water Drop Alert, asking residents across the metro area to sharply cut water use. The district says delaying laundry and dishwashing, taking shorter showers and emptying rain barrels can keep extra gallons out of the combined sewer system and help reduce the risk of sewage backing up into basements. The request comes as forecasters warn of additional rain and flood watches for parts of the state.
What the alert asks you to do
MMSD's alert boils down to a few simple moves: hold off on washing dishes and doing laundry, take shorter showers and empty rain barrels. Every drop kept out of the sewer, the district says, helps lower the risk of basement backups. According to MMSD, residents can sign up for Water Drop Alerts by texting WATERDROP to 414-296-4422. The district says these reminders go out when facilities approach capacity and are intended to reduce the need for untreated discharges into local waterways.
Storm watches and flood warnings across Wisconsin
The National Weather Service has issued flood watches and local flood warnings across parts of Wisconsin as the storm system moves through, and forecasters have warned that more rounds of rain could push additional areas toward flooding. According to the National Weather Service, saturated soils from recent precipitation mean that even relatively modest new rainfall is more likely to cause street and river flooding in low-lying neighborhoods.
Why Milwaukee asks residents to cut water use
Much of Milwaukee still relies on a combined sewer system, in which stormwater and household sewage share the same pipes and flow to the same treatment plants. When storage in MMSD's deep tunnels and capacity at the city's reclamation facilities fills up, the district sometimes must send excess flow, untreated, to the three Milwaukee rivers and Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Federal rules and MMSD's track record
Federal guidance under the EPA's CSO Control Policy calls for communities to capture at least 85% of wet-weather flows and notes that permitting authorities may allow an average of four overflow events per year, with up to two additional events in some permits. According to the EPA, those criteria are part of the national strategy to reduce discharges from combined sewer systems. MMSD says its deep-tunnel system and other upgrades have captured and cleaned about 98.6% of the water entering the regional sewer system since 1994, helping keep overflows relatively rare in most years, according to MMSD.
Staying informed and protecting your home
MMSD urges residents to clear downspouts, keep street grates free of debris and sign up for alerts so they can cut discretionary water use whenever a Water Drop Alert is active. "Our highest priority is to reduce the risk of basement backups," MMSD public information officer Bill Graffin told TMJ4. If you have a flooded basement or immediate concerns, officials say you should contact your municipal public works department or MMSD at (414) 272-5100 for guidance.
