Milwaukee was notorious for its sewer overflows, especially before the year 1994 when a tunnel system was constructed to minimize overflows. A lawsuit in the late 1970's forced Milwaukee to seek solutions to its severe sewer overflow problem. A $3 billion project was initiated to improve the sewer system and virtually eliminate dumping . The result of this project is the Deep Tunnel. The Deep Tunnel is simply an enormous system of sewers very deep underground. Excess wastewater is stored in these tunnels until the treatment plants have the capacity to treat it. The tunnels are between 120 and 330 feet underground consisted of a 17-mile long system of tunnels which hold up to 405 million gallons of wastewater. Combined sewer systems are sewers that are designed to collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe. Most of the time, combined sewer systems transport all of their wastewater to a sewage treatment plant, where it is treated and then discharged to a water body. During periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, however, the wastewater volume in a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the sewer system or treatment plant. For this reason, combined sewer systems are designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater directly to nearby streams, rivers, or other water bodies. These overflows, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), contain not only stormwater but also untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. They are a major water pollution concern for hundreds of cities in the United States that have combined sewer systems. In 1965, Congress authorized funding for research, development, and demonstration of techniques for controlling CSOs and storm water. The absence of an explicit mandate for CSO control, however, meant that the CSO problem received little attention. Passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1972, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, focused greater attention on CSOs. This is clipped from the film Troubled Waters, narrated by Henry Fonda. The 25 minutes documentary film tells the story of the many forms and sources of water pollution focusing on the Ohio River, but also including places including Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine, Alaska, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Washington DC and California. The film highlights community efforts to solve the problem, time factors involved, thermal and chemical pollution and the need for more research in the field of water quality. This unique film was prepared as a report of the Sub-committee on Air and Water Pollution of the Senate Committee on Public Works of the 88th Congress at the behest of the Chairman, Senator Muskie (Maine). It was produced under the guidance of Muskie's Subcommittee staff based on a 1963 staff study on water pollution. That study and this film were helpful in the passage of the Water Quality Act of 1965, during the first month of the 89th Congress. For more information on water pollution and US laws pertaining to its control, go to the US EPA website [ Ссылка ] . Troubled Waters is one of two unique films prepared as reports of the Sub-committee on Air and Water Pollution of the Senate Committee on Public Works of the 88th Congress at the behest of the Chairman, Senator Edmund Muskie (D -Maine). Both films were produced under the guidance of Muskie's Subcommittee based on staff studies on air and water pollution. This film is narrated by Henry Fonda. The film on air pollution, titled Ill Winds on a Sunny Day, was narrated by James Garner. Both are posted to my YouTube channel and are from the US National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
