Health and Safety Practices
We take the health and safety of the public, including our city staff, seriously and will be implementing the following precautions to conform to CDC guidelines for COVID-19 (coronavirus) best safety practices:
- If requested, we will wear masks into your home for the inspection.
- We will take temperatures of our inspectors each day.
- We will eliminate the signature at the end of the inspection to make it contactless.
We request that residents do the following:
- We request that no more than 1 person accompany us during the inspection.
- We request that residents maintain a distance of 6’ from our inspector.
About Inflow and Infiltration (I/I)
The sanitary sewer system in your community was designed to convey domestic and commercial wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant, where pollutants and wastes are removed before the water is discharged to the environment. On the other hand, rain water and ground water, called 'clear water', typically does not need to be treated. Clear water should go to the ground surface or storm sewer and flow into receiving streams and lakes. Clear water should not go into the sanitary sewer.
Excess clear water in the sanitary sewer collection system leads to unnecessarily high flows in the sanitary sewer. These high flows can result in basement sewage backups, bypassing of untreated wastewater into receiving streams, or increased taxpayer costs to construct and maintain a larger-than-necessary collection system.
The City engages in regular maintenance to correct cracks and other defects in pipes and manholes to reduce clear water infiltration into the sanitary sewer collection system. However, a major source of clear water is generally on private property: clear water that is collected by roof drains, sump pumps, seepage collection systems ("beaver drains") and footing drains.
A few sump pumps or footing drains improperly connected to the sanitary sewer make a significant difference to a community's collection system. A typical sanitary sewer pipe in a residential neighborhood is an 8" diameter pipe with a typical capacity of 350 gallons per minute (gpm). This is plenty of capacity if only domestic wastewater entered the pipe. However, add a few sump pumps that can discharge between 20 - 100 gpm each, and the pipe could quickly become overloaded, potentially leading to backups in that neighborhood.
The City of Byron, will be conducting sump pump inspections to verify that sump pumps, roof drains, and other clear water sources are not connected to the sanitary sewer system.
The goal of this program is to remove clear water from the sanitary sewer collection system, which will reduce the potential for sanitary sewer backups, improve public health, and extend the service life of the sanitary sewer collection system and treatment plant, which can ultimately lead to lower taxpayer costs.
Additional I/I Handouts and Information
- Metropolitan Council Website - Reduce Inflow and Infiltration (I/I)
- Handout - Additional I/I information
- For more information go to the Notice page
About the Inspections
Timeframe: The program area will be inspected in the summer of 2021.
The program area is separated into approximately three equal sectors, designated by color (red, yellow, and green) to stagger inspection times throughout 2021. The program will start with the red sector and you will be notified by mail to schedule an inspection. Refer to the inspection map for details.
Scheduled Appointments: To ensure resident safety, all inspections will be scheduled. No door-to-door inspections will be conducted. Inspections will be completed between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.
Web or Telephone: Both a telephone number and a web based option are available for ease of appointment scheduling. The secure web-based scheduling system allows residents to schedule an appointment. Residents who do not want to use the Internet can still call our toll free telephone number to schedule an appointment.
Identification of Inspectors: City employees will be wearing an identification badge with City logos, as well as City of Byron clothing and vehicles. If you have any questions on the identity of the inspectors, please feel free to contact us.
Health and safety practices: See above.
Prep for the Inspection: Before the inspection make sure there is clear and easy access to your sump pump (if applicable) and the water meter. This will allow the inspection and water meter replacement to occur in a timely matter.
The Inspection: There must be an adult occupant present during the inspection. The sump inspection will consist of observing five items:
- Exterior Grading: Does exterior grading slope towards the building?
- Roof Drains: Are there roof drain downspouts that go to the ground?
- Basement: Is there a basement?
- Seepage Collection System (Beaver System): Is there a seepage collection system? If present, does it discharge into a sump pit (proper) or the floor drain (improper)?
- Sump Pit/Sump Pump: Is there a sump pump? If present, does it discharge outside the basement through rigid pipe (proper), discharge to the floor drain (improper), or discharge to either location through a flexible hose (improper).
If an improper connection is found, the inspector will give a Violation Notice to the occupant and explain the necessary steps and timeframe for correction. A reinspection must then be scheduled and conducted to verify that the correction has been made.
Water Meter Replacement: The City will replace the water meter inside the property, remove the existing water meter, and supply the new water meter. There is no cost associated with the water meter replacement.
Inspection Time: A typical inspection and water meter replacement can be completed in a totis completed in under 30 minutes.
| Improper connection: Flexible Hose | Proper connection: Rigid Discharge Pipe To Exterior. |
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Typical Water Meter
