The city of Fond du Lac bypassed the sanitary sewer system in an effort to prevent basement back-ups during this week’s flooding. Public Works director Jordan Skiff says due to the large volumes of melting snow overwhelming the Fond du Lac River, wastewater was pumped into nearby storm sewers in four locations on Thursday and Friday. Skiff says wastewater levels in the sanitary sewer system rose steadily as surface water saturated the ground and entered older pipes. Bypassing to the storm sewer is done to avoid or minimize wastewater from backing up into basements, and is stopped as soon as the imminent threat has passed.
