ST. CLAIR SHORES (WWJ) -- A new plan from the Macomb County Public Works Office will ensure that millions of treated gallons of sanitary sewage and stormwater will no longer by discharged into Lake St. Clair.
In an announcement on Thursday, Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller stated that the plan will implement operational changes and new equipment at the Chapaton Pump Station in St. Clair Shores, and will significantly reduce combined sewer overflows each year.
“By continually looking at ideas to improve water quality, we have discovered another significant way to help protect Lake St. Clair,” Miller said. “It’s a very big deal.”
An added benefit of the new plan, which will have fewer and smaller overflows into the Chapaton basin, will be cost savings in the amount of chemicals needed to treat CSOs.
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"Water quality equals quality of life. Reducing combined sewer overflows into the lake is an ongoing, major challenge. Although we’re permitted by the state to have CSOs, this is a problem we shouldn’t just push onto future generations," Miller said. "By now having 8.6 million gallons of storage volume in the system, this will allow us to realize a reduction of CSOs at Chapaton by up to 30 percent a year."
"That’s a significant improvement we’re proud of because it benefits water quality in Lake St. Clair -- our primary source of drinking water for this area and enjoyed by thousands of people for recreation or their livelihood,” the commissioner added.
Get a full breakdown of the plan from the Macomb County Public Works department here.