Grand Marais public utilities department gearing up for summer

The Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Water and Wastewater Department has another busy summer ahead. One of the first things to be done is an annual inspection of the water and sewer lines.

The portion of the wastewater system to be inspected and cleaned this summer will be the old clay pipes west of Broadway and south of 2nd Street. Water/ Wastewater Superintendent Tom Nelson told the PUC board on May 1 that sewer taps from houses are sticking out into the street pipes. They will need to be cut flush with the street inlets so that cameras can navigate through the system.

The last time this section was cleaned was in 2008. In a memo to the PUC board, Nelson wrote, “At that time there were areas that had lots of roots, cracked pipe and intruding sewer taps in the main.” He expects the project to be done in the early summer and to cost about $15,000.

The PUC board approved going out for bids on the sewer pipe inspection and cleaning project as well as for replacement of two lift stations. Nelson said that many of the city’s 16 sewer lift stations are over 30 years old. The two to be replaced first, one at Trailside Cabins and the other at Traveler’s Rest Cabins, are rusting out and their pumps and controls are failing, Nelson said. He expects the cost to be about $35,000 for the two lift stations, which will not be replaced until late fall.

Another project that the PUC will be considering is re-lining of the sewer main along Highway 61 west of 3rd Avenue West. Nelson estimated this project could cost $60,000-$100,000. It would be done after the summer is over when sewer lines and vehicle traffic are not so busy.

“Unaccountable” water – water that disappears after leaving the water plant due to leaks in the system – has been running between 57 and 65 percent since the beginning of the year. This amounts to about 100,000 gallons a day.

Nelson told the PUC board on April 10 that he believes the leaks are in both city and individual customers’ systems. The water, which comes from Lake Superior, ends up running back down to the lake one way or another.