CSO/Sewer Campaign

Hi everyone,

In Kansas City, a large section of our metropolitan area has combined sewers. As the weather changes we're experiencing more hard rains which is leading to increased combined-sewer overflows. We have a citizen task force working on plans to eliminate the CSOs, involving a major sewer reconstruction. But it will take a long time to re-do the sewer system, and a lot of money. I'm wondering about some things we could encourage people to do now that would decrease the amount of water going into the sewer, especially during times of heavy rains. Are you familiar with any campaigns like this? I'm imagining encouraging people to flush less (especially when it's raining), to wear their clothes several times before washing them, stop using the disposal and compost instead, and put a plastic bottle in the toilet tank so that less water is used when it fills back up, etc. We need education to help people realize their contribution to the problem, and what they can do. I'm afraid we're just waiting for the "big sewer project" to solve all the issues. As is customary, I'll apologize if this discussion has taken place recently. I'm a fairly new member, and normally only follow the issues I'm immediately dealing with. So I might have missed it.

Thank you!
Kate Corwin
[email protected]