As construction in the Village begins, structural changes to the area’s sewer system may become a concern for the city.
“There are a lot of lines here in Muncie that have issues because of the age of the lines,” said Matthew Wright, a leasing agent for C&M Property Management.
The current system is a combination sewer system, meaning stormwater and wastewater are collected and transported through the same pipe. John Anderson, Muncie Sanitary District engineer, said they are using a 12-inch clay pipe.
Wright said he does not think the new development’s apartments will compromise the old sewage system.
“It’s not like we’re adding new people to the community,” he said. “The numbers won’t be changing that much, they’ll just be living in a different property.”
The old system is causing problems for some residents of the area.
Joe Mumpower, a resident of The Village and owner of The Chug, said the pressure from the sewer lines has caused some basement floors of his properties to crack.
“A lot of them are because of the age of the lines that the city has responsibility over,” Wright said. “They, in a lot of cases, refuse responsibility on these things, and we have to end up getting things flushed out, and we have to get lines scoped with cameras and things like that in order to get them to claim any responsibility or to take any action on it at all.”
Anderson said there is a separate stormwater system planned to go into the new development that will relieve some of the pressure on the current lines.
He said the current project will include storm sewers, though the system has yet to be planned.
“To my knowledge, that is still a future project, but that storm system would go in before the new buildings,” Anderson said.
The Muncie Sanitary District also has a 20-year, $160 million plan to separate the existing combination systems throughout the city, according to the executive summary.
Despite the city’s role in upkeep of the system, Wright said he doesn’t think it is completely the administration’s fault.
“I don’t want to say that it’s 100 percent the city’s fault that that’s happened because it’s something that over time has caused an issue, and I think every city has to deal with it,” he said.
