Фото: smolevichi-24.by
Municipal services in Smaliavichy have been working for a second day to clear a major blockage in a sewer collector in the city center. Sewage entered the basements of the House of Culture and a nearby kindergarten because of a blockage caused by wet wipes and rags, Smolevichi-24.by reports.
According to Smaliavichy Water Utility Director Yuhen Nikalaeu, work began the previous day at around 3 p.m. and continued until 11 p.m. Municipal workers resumed clearing the collector in the morning.
“It has been just a week since we cleared a blockage on Kamsamolskaya Street. And now there is another accident,” he said.
A section of the sewer network about 500 meters long was found to be blocked. Hydrodynamic and vacuum trucks were deployed to clear the blockage, but some of the debris has to be removed manually. During the first evening alone, workers removed about 10 buckets of waste from the manhole. More than 200 kg of compacted wet wipes and rags have been removed in total.
“And this is far from all — the manhole is still full, we are working it with the machines and pushing further. According to the water utility director, the manhole remains filled with debris, so the work continues,” the water utility director said.
If the blockage cannot be cleared, municipal workers will have to open up the section in the city center. The collectors run at a depth of about five meters, and because of quicksand, repairs will require an excavation at least six meters wide. According to the water utility, such work could take about a month.
Nikalaeu urged residents not to flush wet wipes, rags or other waste down the sewer.
“We have repeatedly asked and warned: please respect other people’s work and value your own comfort! We work for you. But your wet wipes, thrown into the toilet, completely shut down the city’s wastewater system. Then the water utility receives dozens of complaints that sewage is standing in basements. But people themselves cause these accidents! Cleanliness and order depend solely on our cooperation: you do not put waste into the sewer — we do our job properly,” he said, addressing city residents.