Preventing Combined Sewer Overflow to Lake Michigan
LANSING, MICHIGAN
Upgrading wastewater infrastructure in Lansing, Michigan, is preventing millions of gallons of sewage from overflowing into local waterways, protecting water quality, and improving public health.
Between 2020 and 2035, Lansing, Michigan, will invest an estimated $250 million into separating its outdated and leaky combined sewer overflow system to meet federal requirements and prevent millions of gallons of untreated sewage from entering the watershed each year.
Combined sewer overflow systems are designed to prevent flooding during rain and snow events by collecting overflow from sewage systems and storm drains and delivering it via a single overflow pipe to a nearby water treatment plant. In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that combined sewer overflows are a “priority water pollution concern” for 860 U.S. municipalities, many of which are located in the Great Lakes region.
Lansing’s combined sewer overflow system is notoriously leaky. Intense rain can overwhelm the system, spewing sewage into the nearby Grand River—the longest river in Michigan— and one of its tributaries, the Red Cedar River. From there, the contaminated water drains into Lake Michigan.
In 2020, Lansing’s combined sewer overflow system delivered more than 333 million gallons of sewage-contaminated water to the Grand River. The system is easily overburdened by even relatively small rain or snow events, and in some recent years has produced more sewer overflow than any other city in the state. In 2019, for example, a rain event that produced approximately half an inch of precipitation resulted in more than 4 million gallons of polluted overflow.
Pipe part of a combined sewer overflow system in Lansing.
Because of overflow events like these, the Grand and Red Cedar rivers have been designated “impaired” by the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and are at times considered unsafe for human contact due to the presence of bacteria like E. coli.
Overflow incidents like these also put fish and wildlife populations at risk by overburdening the waterways with nutrients like carbon, phosphorous, and nitrogen, which use up too much of the oxygen in the water and can result in fish kills.
In 2022, the city received $6,500,000 through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law via Michigan’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, an investment that will help Lansing meet federal clean water regulations. The grant also has the potential to help ease the financial burden placed on the city’s 78,500 residents, who are expected to pay 4% more per year on their sewage utility bills for the duration of the project; this increase would be higher without these additional funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Once completed, the elimination of the combined sewer overflow system will revitalize hundreds of miles of Michigan sewers, help safeguard more than 154 species of fish, and make the Grand and Red Cedar rivers safer for water recreation.
Resource Challenges Addressed
Public health and safety
Water quality
Water pollution
Water infrastructure
Key Partners
City of Lansing, Michigan; EPA; Lansing Board of Water and Light; Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
Cost
$250,000,000
Results and Accomplishments
Renovating Lansing, Michigan’s combined sewer overflow system is preventing millions of gallons of untreated sewage from contaminating local waters and Lake Michigan, thereby protecting public health, safeguarding fish wildlife populations, and increasing recreation opportunities.
*This story is part of a Great Lakes restoration success story packet that was used in the Coalition’s 2024 Great Lakes Day, with one story from each state in the region. Read the full packet
