Hole in Reading sewer main break won’t be fixed until later Wednesday

POTTSTOWN PA – Borough residents may have found Tuesday (Aug. 30, 2011) that their tap water smacked of a little more chlorine than usual. The reason: a spill of raw sewage from Reading PA into the Schuylkill River caused officials at Pottstown’s Water Treatment plant to add extra dollops of the purifying chemical for safety’s sake.

Adjacent municipalities were affected too, because the borough sells water and sewer treatment services to neighboring townships.

For public water, Pottstown pumps from the Schuylkill and cleans and treats it for consumption and usage. River water quality was affected Monday (Aug. 29) when a 42-inch sewer main broke at Reading’s Fritz Island treatment plant, The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper reported.

Borough Manager Jason Bobst told The Mercury that Pottstown “has been adding extra chlorine” into its treatment mix since the incident and was “monitoring the water constantly.” He reported that up to 15 million gallons of untreated sewage was estimated to have been dumped.

At the time of The Mercury interview, Bobst said the break was expected to have been fixed by Tuesday afternoon; The Reading (PA) Eagle newspaper reports it likely won’t be repaired until today (Wednesday, Aug. 31).

• Read a story by reporter Evan Brandt, titled “Pottstown water plant dealing with upstream sewage spill” and published Tuesday by The Mercury, here.
• Read a second, expanded story by Brandt, titled “Drinking water threatened by flooding and sewer spill (Updated information), also published Tuesday by The Mercury, here.
• Read a story in The Reading Eagle, titled “Crews putting clamp on sewage-leak hole” and published Wednesday, here.
• Read and watch a story by WFMZ-TV in Allentown PA, titled “Residents, officials react to sewage main break” and published Wednesday, here.
• Read a story by NBC-TV in Philadelphia, titled “Reading Dumps Sewage Into Schuylkill” and published Tuesday, here.
• Read commentary on the incident by Pottstown blogger Roy Keeler, titled “42-Inch Sewer Main Ruptures In Reading – Raw Sewage Being Dumped Into Schuylkill River” and published Tuesday by the Roy’s Rants blog, here.

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