515 E. Main Street Van Wert, Ohio  /    Phone: (419) 238-1237

In 1995 the Wastewater Collection Department was created by City Council in response to a need to work toward fulfilling EPA "dry weather bypass" mandates. These mandates require the sanitary sewer system to flow adequately so as not to spill into creeks and rivers during normal usage, when excessive rain is not interfering with the system.    In addition, there was a need to lessen sewer backup problems, created by community expansion and flow restrictions such as tree roots.  The Jet Vac Combo truck, pictured here, has the capacity to clean out restrictions in large sewer lines so that wastewater can flow more efficiently.

Within the sanitary sewer system are the wastewater treatment plant (located on U. S. 127 north of Van Wert), a pump station, and eight smaller lift stations.   The pump station has a pressurized 24-inch pipe line leading to the plant.  A gravity fed 24-inch line from northwest Van Wert and a 33-inch line draining the southern portion of the city feed the pump station.    In 2007, a 24-inch gravity-fed line was installed under North Washington Street which drains sewage from the northeast section of town, portions of the downtown, and North Jefferson Street to the waste water treatment plant.  The treatment plant, pump station, and many of the major supply lines are twenty first century capital improvements.

The earliest portions of the current sanitary sewer system consisted of pipes placed in creek beds and then covered over.  One such former creek ran near parts of East Crawford Street.  A second creek once crossed South Avenue and State Street, then flowed near the present intersection of Southway and Airport Streets.

Van Wert, like most older communities, has both rain water and sewage water draining into the sanitary sewer system.  Antiquated systems such as these, and even those developed years later, result in untreated sewer spillage directly into waterways during heavy rains.   When sanitary sewer water is at a very  high pressure,  it  forces sewage out  through overflow pipes.  Later systems drain storm water into a separate pipe line system rather than the sanitary sewer system.

In the 1970s, federal funding provided for a number of storm sewer mains to be placed in various parts of Van Wert.  Both the <Wastewater Collection> and <Wastewater Treatment> Web pages describe additional efforts being made toward treating our community's waste water properly.