Public health warnings related to sewage discharges are posted on this page.

Currently there are no active public health warnings related to sewage discharges.

Sanitary Sewer Overflows

Occasionally, sanitary sewers will release raw sewage. These types of releases are called sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). SSOs can contaminate our waters, causing serious water quality problems, and back-up into homes, causing property damage and threatening public health.

Possible causes of SSOs include:

• Blockages,
• Line breaks,
• Sewer defects that allow stormwater and groundwater to overload the system,
• Power failures,
• Vandalism,
• Heavy rain events that overwhelm the stormwater system and infiltrate into the sanitary sewer system.

PUBLIC HEALTH NOTIFICATIONS

State regulations require the City of Newton to notify the public when certain events occur that result in untreated or partially treated wastewater being released into surface water a river, stream, lake or pond. Notifications are posted online, if you would like to receive notifications on SSO’s click here.

For notifications and alerts for sites on or around the Charles River, please visit the MWRA’s CSO notification page.

PREVIOUS SSO NOTIFICATIONS

None listed at this time.