- Our community owned Wastewater System is only designed to collect household wastewater.
- Discharging water from sump pumps into your sewer service lines is illegal and dangerous to your health and the safety of your property.
- Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Please read below.
The BECA Board strives to assure the wastewater treatment facility is consistently providing exceptional wastewater treatment for the residents of the Association. In addition to the treatment facility, BECA is responsible for almost 6 miles of wastewater collection system, or the pipelines that convey wastewater from the service line from your house to the treatment facility. A major project that has been taking place for several years is to clean the collection system by use of hydro-jetting and closed-circuit televising (CCTV) in order to assess areas of the collection system that need to be repaired, such as manholes, root intrusion, and repairs to the main lines.
Over the last 5 years the incoming flow at the treatment facility increased significantly. Since there cannot be any additional dwellings added to the wastewater system, we assume that groundwater is infiltrating into the system. The board took on several repair projects which included manhole modifications (lining and raising the lid elevation) and this work has proven to take some the peak influent flow down.
However, there is still a visible peak inflow at the treatment facility during rain events only and this leads the board to believe that this additional inflow could be sump pump discharge from homes and not groundwater. This year the board resumed the annual maintenance project of hydro-jetting and CCTV sections of the wastewater system. During the project, it was discovered that excessive amounts of clean water could be seen to be discharged to the system. Therefore, the Board is reaching out to our own members to determine if basement sump pumps could be the contributing factor.
Discharging a sump pump into your wastewater service might seem like an easier and more attractive option than running a discharge tube from the sump pump to the exterior, but it is illegal. There are numerous reasons why property owners should care about inflow from illegal connections. These include impacts to your home and environment and increases in your utility rates.
Like roads wastewater systems are designed to handle the peak capacity for sewers is like rush hour for roads. The newly constructed treatment facility was designed for an assumed peak flow. The more clear water entering the system, the bigger all those facilities need to be and the more they cost. Reducing the peak flow caused by excessive inflow means BECA can stay under compliance with our state issued discharge permit.
It is imperative that all members of the Association do their part to keep groundwater out of the collection system to reduce the potential that YOU will be required to build this very expensive treatment to meet the stream standards. Please do your part by verifying that your sump pump and perimeter drains are not connected to the wastewater system.
It is where the sump pump discharges that maybe illegal, not the sump pump itself.
Sump pumps are used to pump groundwater to the outside of the basement of buildings. A sump pump is considered illegal when connected to the sanitary waste piping (sewer).
One incorrectly installed sump pump can add up to 7,200 gallons per day of clear water to the wastewater system. That is as much water as an average sized residential swimming pool!
Property owners can be directly impacted in terms of health and property damage. A collection system that is over capacity because of inflow can lead to sewer backups into the basement of your or your neighbor’s home.
You can do a quick inspection of your sump pump piping to ensure that the water is going outside. The sump pump should discharge to the lawn, at least 20 feet away from the home, for infiltration. Never direct water onto a street, alley, right of way, easement or neighboring property.
If the sump pump is connected to the rest of the plumbing in your home, please reach out to the BECA Board at admin@directdischarge.com to provide your contact information. Once the Board has identified the homes that have sump pumps connected to the collection system, the Board will work with you to disconnect the sump pump from the collection system.