NEWPORT BEACH : Sewer Fee Increased to Finance Repairs

Starting in June, residents will be paying an extra 35 cents a month for sewage disposal to pay for the rehabilitation of seven overworked waste-water pump stations.

The City Council this week unanimously approved the rate increase, which should provide about $150,000 a year for eventual application to the repair of the pump and overflow stations, Utilities Director Robert Dixon said.

The increase will be in effect for about five years, or until the city collects $750,000 toward the project.

The sewer stations would be rehabilitated over a 10-year period, starting with the stations at Cameo Shores, Main Beach, Harbor Island and China Cove, Dixon said.

There are 24 sewer stations in the city, each equipped with pumps that push sewage from household and commercial pipelines toward Huntington Beach, where it is eventually treated and dumped.

The seven oldest stations--along Balboa and Bay Islands, on the Peninsula and in Corona del Mar--are all overworked, Dixon said.

Unless work begins soon to take the pressure off these older stations, the city is risking sewage overflow into residential properties or the bay, Dixon said.

There already have been instances in which both the main pump and the backup pumps are needed to handle waste-water flow, he added.

Sewage backups occur when station overflow wells fill up. At that point, drainage material either goes into a residence or out an open manhole that leads to storm drains and the bay.

The repair schedule provides time to develop detailed plans for the Balboa and Bay Island stations.