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As Gulfport enters 2015, the city’s public works department has already started repairing the sewers. Trucks traveling through the city and use remote cameras to check the status of the sanitary sewer lines and manholes. Sanitary sewers, Public Works Director Don Sopak notes, are sewers that transport household waste to the St. Petersburg wastewater treatment plant. Sanitary sewers take wastewater to treatment facilities and do not tie in to the storm sewers, which collect stormwater and transport it to Boca Ciega Bay.
As part of the city’s sanitary sewer system repairs, JTV trucks are traveling through the city televising lines and making repairs when they can. One of the repairs includes grouting the sewer lines where main sewer lines meet the connections to private property.
Currently, gaps in the sanitary sewer lines at such connections allow groundwater (rainwater that has soaked into the ground) to seep into the sanitary sewer system. Grouting keeps groundwater from leaking in to the city’s sanitary sewer system. St. Petersburg charges Gulfport by the number of gallons of wastewater coming from these pipes into the wastewater treatment facility, so grouting will save Gulfport money, Sopak says, adding that the amount of money saved will vary with the amount of rainfall.
