Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Additional Resources
On this page:
- General Information on SSOs
- Information from EPA Regions
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Technical Reports and Materials
- Fact Sheets
- Federal Advisory Committee (FAC)
General Information on SSOs
- 2004 Report to Congress: Impacts and Control of CSOs and SSOs – The report presents a comprehensive characterization of CSOs and SSOs, including the extent of environmental and human health impacts caused by CSOs and SSOs, the technologies used by municipalities to address these impacts, and the resources spent by municipalities to control CSO and SSO discharges.
- Public Listening Sessions and Workshop on SSOs and Peak Flows – Information from SSO and peak flow discussions (2010, 2011).
Information from EPA Regions
- Municipal Satellite Collection Systems – Provides the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) decision to uphold a region 1 NPDES permit issued to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) treatment plant.
Enforcement and Compliance
- National Enforcement Initiative: Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of Our Nation’s Waters – This site describes EPA's progress in targeting municipalities to reduce unlawful discharges of raw sewage. EPA will take action to reduce raw sewage overflows and stormwater discharges from municipal sewer systems that pose a significant threat to water quality and public health.
- Enforcement Alert: Preventing Backup of Municipal Sewage into Basements (PDF) – Provides information on EPA enforcement efforts related to backups of sewage into building basements.
Technical Reports and Materials
- Guide for Evaluating Capacity, Management, Operation, and Maintenance (CMOM) Programs at Sanitary Sewer Collection Systems – This guide identifies criteria to evaluate a collection system's management, operation, and maintenance (CMOM) program activities. The guide is intended for use by EPA, state inspectors, and the regulated community.
- Sanitary Sewer Overflow Analysis and Planning (SSOAP) Toolbox – Modelling tools that provide municipalities and NPDES authorities with the ability to predict rainfall-derived inflow and infiltration (RDII) into sanitary sewer systems.
- Optimizing Operation, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation of Sanitary Sewer Collection Systems – This guidance document is designed to be used by collection system owners, managers, and operators seeking to optimize the operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of their systems.
- CMOM Program Self Assessment Checklist – Screening-level tool that can help utilities evaluate capacity, management, operations, and maintenance (CMOM) programs and identify general areas of strength and weakness.
- Optimization of Collection System Maintenance Frequencies and System Performance – This project developed an optimized approach for maintenance of separate collection systems by focusing on reducing the frequent failures of collection systems.
- Preparing Sewer Overflow Response Plans: A Guidebook For Local Governments – This document by the American Public Works Association helps local system owners and operators plan for responses to sanitary sewer overflows.
Fact Sheets
- Asset Management for Sewer Collection Systems – Describes how public sewer utilities can achieve multiple goals of protecting and extending the life of sewer system assets, meeting new financial reporting requirements, and abating sanitary sewer overflows or wastewater treatment plant peak flow violations.
- Why Control Sanitary Sewer Overflows? – Describes the causes of SSOs, the impacts to human health and natural resources, economic impacts, and diseases associated with SSOs.
- Financing Capital Improvements for SSO Abatement – Provides communities with useful information to determine which financial mechanisms are best for them.
Federal Advisory Committee (FAC)
EPA chartered the Urban Wet Weather Flows Federal Advisory Committee to identify and evaluate water quality issues from municipal wet weather discharges for EPA.
- Urban Wet Weather Flows Federal Advisory Committee – Members of the committee were divided into two subcommittees to address the development of the Storm Water Phase II program and to develop a framework for addressing the impacts of SSOS.
- Phase II Storm Water Subcommittee – This Subcommittee examined the need for national consistency in permitting and enforcement, effective sewer operation and maintenance principles, public notification for potential health or environmental dangers and other issues.
- SSO Policy Dialogue Subcommittee (SSO Subcommittee) – This Subcommittee facilitated working with technical trade organizations, states, and local governments to develop a range of tools and resources for SSO abatement.
- SSO Subcommittee Meeting in October 1999 – This Subcommittee identified basic principles for NPDES permit requirements to address SSOs.