A summertime downpour of rain Tuesday afternoon in sections of Lexington slowed traffic significantly and filled up stormwater drainage systems. The city is in the midst of a massive sanitary sewer and stormwater improvement program.
Water Quality Director Charlie Martin said this rain event didn’t cause any significant sewer backups. “We had I don’t know how many inches of rain we had in a short period of time, but I only had one alarm go off as far as they’re being a problem in the sanitary sewer system. We have 13 of them spread throughout the whole system. So, most of the system didn’t even register a blimp on the radar screen so to speak,” said Martin.
Martin said a large amount of rainfall in a short time following a dry period typically doesn’t create any sewer concerns. The water quality director says a bigger problem usually results when a heavy rain comes on already saturated ground.
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