How Three U.S. Cities Avoided $1 Billion in
Wastewater Costs with Smart Sewer Technology
Discover how Hawthorne, La Mesa, and Louisville MSD saved over $1 billion combined using smart sewer monitoring systems. Learn the proven framework for prioritizing wastewater infrastructure investments through regulatory compliance, financial impact, and operational efficiency, and how real-time sensors and analytics can transform your utility’s approach to SSO prevention.
Why do some great utility ideas stall out vs why do some move forward?
It comes down to what NEEDS to be done vs what SHOULD be done. Many times, what NEEDS to be done gets confused with what SHOULD be done. This can confuse priorities in your team. Or even worse, your whole team is focused on something that SHOULD be done while ignoring something that NEEDS to be done.
The Priority Framework That Separates Successful Utilities from Struggling Ones
Regulatory: Are You at Risk of Violating the Law?
Are you required to do this by law? Or is there a risk that now doing something will end up violating the law? For sanitary sewers, there are many state regulations but at the national level the EPA is very strict with sanitary sewer overflows.
“EPA estimates there are at least 23,000 – 75,000 SSOs per year (not including sewage backups into buildings) in the U.S.”
https://www.epa.gov/npdes/sanitary-sewer-overflows-ssos
Financial: Is This Problem Draining Your Budget?
Is this dragging you down financially and outside of budget limitations and causing you to siphon money from other needs? Sidestepping the larger impacts to the economy from sewer overflows. For every SSO spill there are significant costs to the utility for the direct response. I’ve seen costs anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 per spill event to clean up, report, test, clean the sewers, and give the all clear. Additionally, there are the huge capital project costs from expanding pipelines, pump stations, and treatment plants to deal with these increased flows.
Utility Name | Cost of Consent Decree | Cost per Person ($) |
City of Houston | $2,000,000,000 | $867 |
Louisville/Jefferson Co. MSD | $1,150,000,000 | $885 |
Miami-Dade County | $1,600,000,000 | $593 |
Operational: Is Your Team Stuck in Reactive Mode?
Is this impacting your day-to-day operations so your people cannot do a good job? Every single sewer overflow is a distraction from cleaning, pump maintenance, and other operator duties. Small overflows might be resolved within a few hours. Larger incidents can require several days of continuous work. This can mean anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred man hours spent on overflows instead of proactive maintenance.
Three Utilities That Took Control with Smart Sewer Technology
At your utility, evaluate do you NEED to take action on sewer overflows? The answer is likely yes, but what exactly? Thankfully, we are not alone. Many utilities have been down this path before. They use a combination of sensors, software, and services to take control of their systems
The EPA has extensively documented these approaches in their Smart Sewers initiative.
Hawthorne, California: Using Data to Prove I&I Reduction Effectiveness
The Challenge: Excessive inflow and infiltration (I&I) was overwhelming the small sewer system serving this community southeast of Los Angeles International Airport.
The Smart Solution: Rather than blindly replacing pipelines, Hawthorne installed real-time remote sensors across just 2.5% of their sewer system, approximately 50 manholes. These sensors wirelessly transmitted flow data to an analytics platform, giving operators real-time visibility into system hydraulics.
The Strategic Approach: The utility established baseline monitoring before beginning their pipeline replacement program, continued monitoring during rehabilitation work, and validated results afterward. This data-driven approach allowed them to quantify exactly how much I&I reduction each dollar of capital investment delivered.
The Results: Since implementation, Hawthorne has saved an estimated $2 million in SSO-related fines and mitigation costs. More importantly, they now make infrastructure investment decisions based on measured performance rather than guesswork.
La Mesa, California: Cutting Maintenance Costs While Improving Service
The Challenge: Excessive fats, oils, and grease (FOG) buildup required intensive cleaning schedules. The city was cleaning the entire collection system annually, plus nearly 100 high-risk “hot spots,” leaving little time for other preventive maintenance.
The Smart Solution: La Mesa deployed real-time remote monitors to assess actual site conditions rather than relying on time-based maintenance schedules.
The Strategic Approach: The utility used sensor data to identify which pipelines were truly problematic and which were being cleaned unnecessarily. This allowed them to prioritize monthly cleanings for repeat offenders while reducing service frequency for stable sections.
The Results: During the pilot project, the city reduced cleanings by 80%, from approximately 100 annual interventions to just 12 data-driven cleanings. This saved more than $19,000 while freeing up staff for other critical preventive maintenance work that helps prevent SSOs.
Louisville/Jefferson County MSD, Kentucky: System-Wide Optimization at Scale
The Challenge: Facing a consent decree under the original long-term control plan with an estimated cost of $200 million, the district needed a way to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows without building their way out of the problem.
The Smart Solution: Louisville MSD implemented a comprehensive smart sewer system with real-time controls (RTCs) throughout their collection and conveyance network.
The Strategic Approach: The district installed controls at strategic points to optimize wastewater conveyance, storage, release, and transfer based on available system capacity. During rain events, the RTCs dynamically balance flows across the system, storing water where capacity exists and relieving stress on overloaded sections.
The Results: This optimization approach has reduced combined sewer overflows by 1 billion gallons annually, without building a single new pipe. The capital investment for the smart sewer system came in at $83 million, representing a 58% reduction from the original $200 million estimate. The district avoided $117 million in unnecessary infrastructure costs.
The Pattern: Match Technology to Your Primary Challenge
Primary Issue | Primary Solution | Secondary Solution | Example |
Our sewer lines have too much I&I | Pipeline Replacement Program | Establish before, during, and after sewer metering to determine the effectiveness of each dollar spent | Hawthorne |
We have too much FOGs in the pipelines | Cleaning and Televising Program | Use sensors and software to identify the repeat offering pipelines so you can prioritize those for monthly cleanings | La Mesa |
We have capacity where we don’t need it | Place in control structures and pump stations | Use level sensors and coordinated controls to balance and move flows around during heavy rainfall | Louisville MSD |
Taking Action at Your Utility
If you’ve made it this far, you’re likely evaluating whether your utility NEEDS to take action on sewer overflows. The framework is straightforward:
Ask yourself these three questions:
- Are we at regulatory risk due to SSOs or potential violations?
- Are overflow-related costs preventing us from making permanent improvements?
- Is our operations team trapped in an endless cycle of emergency response?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone. The utilities profiled here faced the same challenges. The difference is they stopped treating symptoms and started addressing root causes with smart technology.
Modern wastewater management isn’t about building bigger pipes, it’s about using the infrastructure you already have more intelligently. Real-time sensors, predictive analytics, and dynamic controls give you visibility and control that weren’t possible a decade ago.
Is there someone else at your utility who needs to see this? Forward this article to your team and start the conversation about moving from reactive to proactive wastewater management.
Infrasync provides utilities with the tools and insights to optimize wastewater infrastructure through smart monitoring and analytics. Learn how we can help your utility avoid costly overflows and make data-driven infrastructure decisions.
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