Winter Springs to install bypass pump after wastewater lift station failure

The city of Winter Springs plans to install a permanent bypass pump at a troubled wastewater lift station after more than 1,600 gallons of raw sewage overflowed into a resident’s backyard.

At Monday’s city commission meeting, Winter Springs Utilities Director Bilal Iftikhar said the city is still investigating why the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, or SCADA, system didn’t alert officials to the lift station failure before it overflowed into the resident’s yard. In the meantime, a rented bypass pump has been installed at the site while a more permanent backup system is being considered.

“What that does is if the lift station is overflowing that bypass pump is completely independent of  everything,” Iftikhar said. “It will automatically start running to make sure that doesn’t happen. And pretty soon we are going to install a permanent bypass pump there as well.”

A lift station is the collection point for wastewater coming from toilets, sinks, and other sources connected to sanitary sewer pipes. That raw sewage is then pumped uphill from low-lying areas in the city on its way to a wastewater treatment site.

In an interview, Sarah Baker said on the morning of March 16, her 11-year-old was playing outside with his grandparents. He ran inside and said, “the sewer’s overflowing again.” 

In a video she shared with Oviedo Community News, you can see wastewater flowing out of the manhole in the Bakers’ backyard, a decorative alligator resting atop the manhole; standing water pools nearby. It’s the third time the lift station has failed during her two and half years owning the home, she said.

“There’s still toilet paper in that area,” Baker said, adding that she still washes her dog’s feet when he goes into that portion of the yard.

In later videos, you can see a white powder – hydrated lime – around the sewer cap used to disinfect the area. City officials said they plan to replace the sod around the area.

Iftikhar told city commissioners the estimate of how much wastewater was released is done through a formula. 

“1,650 (gallons), 5,000 (gallons), it really doesn’t make any difference,” Iftikhar said after some residents questioned the numbers. “We calculated the volume. [The Florida Department of Environmental Protection] was informed that some of the water did go into [Howell Creek]. We have done upstream and downstream testing to make sure there is nothing in the creek.”

This particular lift station also failed after Hurricane Ian. The city later installed a generator to prevent that type of failure from happening again.
Commissioner Ted Johnson said he wanted more communication from the head of utilities. He pointed to recent issues, including the issue with fire hydrants not being inspected. 

“It just seems like we’re getting an awful lot of surprises,” Johnson said. “We had the fire hydrant surprise. We’ve had this surprise. We had a DEP report come in on a Friday before the Monday we went up to [Joint Legislative Auditing Committee] and there was no communication. I would hope the communication improves in the future.”

Mayor Kevin McCann also echoed that city commissioners need to know whenever there’s a wastewater issue – especially given the current political climate in Winter Springs. Interim City Manager Phil Hursh said he would alert them of any wastewater spills going forward.

“If it’s a wastewater spill – I’d like to know. I need to know. Even if it’s a Saturday,” McCann said. “It’s Winter Springs. We got haters.”

For her part, Baker said she just wants the lift station to work properly. She said she’s worried that the soil around the area could be contaminated. 

“I wasn’t trying to cause a big stir,” Baker said. “I was just trying to get somebody to clean up the sewage in my yard.”

She added: “I don’t have any political agenda. I was just trying to be neighborly and let people know there was poo floating in the creek. I don’t have any skin in the game.” 

In other news, the Winter Springs City Commission:

• Approved hiring Slavin as the firm to hire the next city manager. Slavin was the firm that had the highest score when points were tallied after the March 11 City Commission meeting. 
• After a heated discussion, voted 3-2 to allow a private contractor to continue parking at the Winter Springs Senior Center.
• Approved a voluntary annexation of a parcel of land on the north side of State Road 419, just north of State Road 434. The plan is to use the parcel as an outdoor storage of recreational vehicles.