On Wednesday, January 10 the Wellesley Water and Sewer Division was notified and responded to a small number of sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events.
A sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is an unintentional discharge, spill, or release of untreated wastewater to the environment or a property prior to reaching a treatment facility.
These events were confirmed at 54 Cliff Road, Colburn Road across from Brown Park, and just behind Bates Elementary School near Boulder Brook. These overflows did not impact the Town's drinking water wells.
The sewer overflow discharges all stopped by 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 11.
The discharge from these events was visually estimated to be between 10-50 GPM. The overflow from Cliff and Colburn Roads both discharged to neighboring wetland areas, while the discharge behind Bates School flowed directly into Boulder Brook.
Residents should avoid contact with the stream that flows through Brown Park, and also avoid contact with Boulder Brook for 48 hours after the discharge has stopped due to increased health risks from bacteria and other pollutants. Please also keep pets away from these areas.
The overflows are the result of an unusually high water table, the weekend snow storm, and several large rain events in a short period of time that all strained the capacity of our sewer system.
The Wellesley Health Department and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection were both contacted about the overflows. The Town is following the standard DEP protocol for reporting the overflows and notifying the public.
For more information, please https://wellesleyma.gov/1860/Sanitary-Sewer-Overflows-SSOs