City Beginning Smoke Testing of Sanitary Sewers Tuesday

RJN Group, Inc. will be starting on Tuesday, September 4 the first phase of testing sanitary sewers in Effingham.

The work will begin in areas south of Wabash Avenue to the CN spur railroad, east of Banker Street to Willow Street and the Homewood Subdivision area. The purpose of the smoke testing is to locate defects in the sewer system.

The smoke is non-toxic, harmless and creates no fire hazard. It should not enter your home unless you have defective plumbing or dried up drain traps.  Drain traps should always be filled with water to prevent sewer gases or odors from entering the building. If you have seldom-used drains, please pour water in the drain to fill the trap, which should prevent smoke from the testing to enter.

If smoke is found in your home or building, simply open windows, and the smoke will dissipate quickly. Please also notify the onsite testing personnel or the onsite City staff. If the smoke does enter your home, the potential does exist for sewer gases to also enter your home, and you should consult your licensed plumber to fix any problems.

This will be an ongoing program and the information obtained will be used to improve the City’s sewer system in keeping with state and federal regulations.

The work, once again, will be starting on Tuesday morning September 4.