Health Alert Issued After Splash Pad Sewer Backup

TRAVERSE CITY (WWJ/AP) - Traverse City officials have issued a health alert after a sewer backup fouled a new $360,000 splash pad.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reported city officials discovered Sunday morning that sewage backed up into the Clinch Park splash pad's reservoir as five or six children played in and around a waterscape feature that opened last week.

Officials issued a warning for anyone who used the splash pad Saturday or Sunday.

The newspaper said the backup resulted from a failed pump that tripped a circuit breaker at a pump station, and that also knocked out a pump failure alarm. A city employee Sunday morning saw sewage bubbling up from a manhole cover, and called officials.

Officials don't know how much sewage water entered the reservoir, but the contracted operator of the city's sewage plant and pump estimated the total amount of lost sewage at less than 2,000 gallons.

Talking to the Record-Eagle, Tom Buss, director of environmental health for the Grand Traverse County Health Department — as of Monday — there were no known illnesses as a result of the sewage backup.

Buss said anyone who may have been exposed to contaminated water should take a thorough shower and report any gastrointestinal illness symptoms or signs of infections to their doctors.

The splash pad is part of a $2.6 million Clinch Park renovation project.

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