The City of Tuscaloosa has over 700 plus miles of sewer collection lines with 66 active lift stations and over 12,000 manholes. The Water & Sewer Department also operates the Hilliard N. Fletcher Water Resource Recovery Facility, which treats over 17 million gallons of wastewater each day. The Water & Sewer Department provides uninterrupted clean water and sewer services to Tuscaloosa residents.
Additionally, the collections network of the Water & Sewer Department has a robust maintenance plan which includes acoustic pipe inspection, closed-circuit TV pipe inspection, gravity line maintenance cleaning, gravity line replacement, system point repairs, manhole inspection, manhole rehabilitation, system smoke testing, and a formal Fats, Oils & Grease (FOG) program.
Finally, an achievement that the department is especially proud of is reducing the number of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) per year to a fraction of what it was in previous years. SSOs have been reduced by over 80% since 2009. This improvement is primarily due to the increased frequency of sewer manhole and line inspection, cleaning, and rehabilitation, combined with the City's formally adopted Fats/Oils/Grease (FOG) Management Program.
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Notice
Date: 9/18/2025
Discharge: 500 gals. Approx.
Location: Hargrove Rd E and Easton Dr.
Latitude: 33.146903
Longitude: -87.472483
Destination: SD to UT to Cottondale Creek
Cause: Grease
Failure: Wastewater crews assessed a MH discharge at the intersection of Hargrove Rd E and Easton Dr. Crews utilized jet/vac trucks to remove blockage and restore flow which ended the discharge. Crews washed and vacuumed the spillage. Crews placed out pure green 24 for disinfectant. SSO signage is in place and door notification was placed at nearby residence. SSO volume and duration was calculated via field observation and manhole spillage chart. SSO follow up CCTV inspection is scheduled. The Tuscaloosa County Health Agency as well as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management have been notified.
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Notice
Date: 9/2/2025
Discharge: 1,500 gals. Approx.
Location: 10000 Block of US 11
Latitude: 33.174556
Longitude: -87.262843
Destination: Little Hurricane Creek
Cause: LS Equipment Failure
Failure:LS Techs were replacing 6" bypass with 8" bypass at LS 40, while doing so an overflow occurred at LS 39. Vac trucks were used to mitigate the discharge. Once the bypass was swapped the overflow ended. Crews placed out pure green 24 for disinfectant. SSO signage is in place. SSO volume and duration was calculated via field observation and manhole spillage chart. The Tuscaloosa County Health Agency as well as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management have been notified.