Kittanning's municipal authority will decide on Monday what to do about residents who do not fix illegal storm water systems.

The authority has given residents until Oct. 20 to redirect gutters and downspouts that run into sanitary sewers. The agency is working to comply with Department of Environmental Protection regulations that say only sewage water can drain into sanitary pipes.

During a meeting on Monday, authority members will discuss how to handle those who are not in compliance by the deadline. Residents can disconnect underground gutters and send water runoff into their yards to comply. Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Poister said gutters should send water onto the ground rather than into it.

“Just guide the gutters toward the ground. You would like to have the natural ground take that water and keep it from going into any sewer system,” he said.

Kittanning has until 2015 to comply with DEP regulations calling for separate drains for storm water and sewage.

In 2010, the borough completed a five-phase $12 million project to do just that. Storm water is now routed to the Allegheny River; sewage is sent to the borough's treatment plant.

The borough is now capable of compliance, but there's a hitch.

“The only problem we have now is some of the people in town and some of the commercial buildings did not redirect the water going off their roofs,” said Peter Graff, municipal authority chairman.

More than 50 percent of the borough's homes and businesses are still sending storm water into underground pipes, according Bill Slagle, who manages the borough's treatment plant.

The combined systems do more than keep the borough out of compliance. They cost the borough tens of thousands of dollars a month, Slagle said.

“Multiply that by 12 and how many years. You're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

If residents send their storm water in the right direction, that could save them money, too, Graff said. If not, the added burden may be passed on to residents and businesses.

“We want everybody to comply to keep the rates down,” he said.

Julie E. Martin is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.

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