What does a sewer overflow look like?

If you have ever seen a toilet overflow with both waste and water spilling over the bowl and onto the surrounding floor, then you can imagine a sewer overflow, which is a similarly distressing experience.

When too much stormwater enters the sewers, it combines with our waste and floods the system. To keep untreated waste from backing up into people’s homes, businesses and streets, the excess stormwater and wastewater are discharged from pipes, or outfalls, into local streams, creeks and rivers.