Tallahassee upgrades pumping stations to prevent sewage leaks

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The city of Tallahassee is taking some measures to prevent sewage leaks during power outages.

“We are committed to investing in our infrastructure,” said Dave Roberts of the city’s Underground Utilities and Public Infrastructure Department. “This will provide improved technology, improved reliability and resilience, and allow us to keep the sewers in the collection system where they belong.”

Roberts said the new generators are located at pumping stations and feature automatic transfer when power goes out, meaning the city no longer has to send a crew to keep the pumps running.

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Roberts said the generators would allow more city staff to focus on restoring power rather than dealing with problems at individual pumping stations.

“If people don’t have power, they’re still going to flush their toilets, and we still need to have a place for them to do that,” Roberts said. “With the backup generator we have here, we don’t have to worry about that anymore. This generator will actually power this pumping station during an extended power outage, and the sewage will continue to flow.”

The generator at Pump Station 99 is the last to be installed. Roberts said the city will continue to learn and make changes to better respond to severe weather or power outages in the future.

In total, there are 115 pumping stations throughout the city, 32 of which have a permanent power supply.

City officials added that temporary generators will be brought to the other locations in case of severe weather.

This project is receiving $4.5 million in grants and 13 additional generators are currently in the planning or construction phase.

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