Currently, the Upper Maumee drains (the first half of the Maumee that headwaters in downtown Fort Wayne from Combined & Sanitary Sewer Overflows Rain and snowmelt discharged from combined stormwater and sewer systems can cause serious pollution in rivers and lakes in urban areas. These sewer systems were designed to capture and treat both domestic wastewater as well as stormwater runoff. But in many places development has increased beyond the capacity of combined sewer systems which causes them to periodically overflow, sending raw sewage into surface water bodies (combined sewer overflows). In areas where stormwater drains were never connected with the sanitary sewer system, raw sewage overflows can result from substantial amounts of water leaking into old pipes, pipe blockages, pipe breaks, power failures or insufficient capacity in the system. Such overflows are called sanitary sewer overflows. Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) are leading causes of water quality impairment across the country. The EPA states that only 32 percent of communities with CSOs are implementing the minimum controls, despite a January 1997 deadline. Only 19 percent have completed their plans for controlling CSOs, and fewer than 10 percent have finished implementing CSO controls. The EPA estimates
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