SUN JOURNAL • November 19, 2023
When heavy rainfall overwhelms Lewiston-Auburn’s wastewater system, there’s only one place to relieve the pressure: the Androscoggin River. Last year, 52 million gallons of untreated, diluted sewage went into the river. Despite years of trying to separate the Twin Cities’ stormwater and sewerage systems to address the issue, in some places the systems remain combined. For that reason, heavy rain events — which are expected to be more frequent with climate change — can add millions of gallons of unintended rainwater to the treatment plant’s load, overwhelming the cities’ wastewater facilities. The Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority has determined the site of a large holding tank that will collect sewage and stormwater overflow during heavy rainfall to help prevent it from going into the Androscoggin River.