Crews began work today (July 21) to replace about 2,100 feet of sewer line along Key West Drive, Bender Lane and North Arlene Drive in Arnold to reduce sanitary sewer overflows and backups that have long plagued that part of town.
The work is expected to be complete Sept. 26, weather permitting, said Mark Radake, project manager for Missouri American Water, which owns the sewer system in Arnold.
He said there could be some closures along those three roads during the project.
Today, workers from Bates Utility Co., which is based in Weldon Spring, were digging around a gas main to prepare for the installation of new sewer pipe, which previously was delivered to the area, Radake said.
That pipe will be used to “reslope” and/or “upsize” the sewer line in the area, increasing the sewer system’s capacity, Missouri American Water previously reported.
The company bought the sewer system from the city of Arnold in 2015 and at the time, promised to make $5 million in improvements to the system over four years.
The project that’s underway is the first one Missouri American Water is undertaking to upgrade the system, the company reported.
“This is us living up to our promise to improve the system,” Radake said.
Arnold Mayor Ron Counts said he hopes the project will help people in that neighborhood who have dealt with sewer water overflowing onto their property and backing up into their basements.
“This is the type of benefit that was promised to the people of Arnold when we voted and agreed to sell our wastewater system to Missouri American Water in 2015,” he said in a written statement when the project was announced in March. “I know the residents of this particular area have battled sewer backups for a long time, and I’m glad to see this project will alleviate that problem.”
Radake said crews planned to work a short day today because of the extreme heat.