Hurricane Ian causes release of wastewater into Manatee River
BRADENTON – During Hurricane Ian, power outages and other system failures caused more than 13 million gallons of partially treated sewage to be released into local waterways.
According to FDEP reports, a treatment plant at 1810 1st Street West became hydraulically overloaded due to heavy rain from Hurricane Ian. The filters became blinded and the plant had to be bypassed. A total of 13 million gallons of partially treated wastewater were released into the Manatee River.
On the evening of September 28, the Manatee County North wastewater service area experienced multiple sanitary sewer overflow events of undetermined sizes and durations due to excessive rainfall and wind associated with hurricane Ian.
The hurricane caused numerous lift station failures due to power loss from power grid infrastructure destruction and introduced stormwater into the sanitary sewer system