Penbrook Borough’s existing 12-inch vitrified clay pipe (VCP) gravity sewer line was constructed in the 1930s and conveyed sewage flow from both Penbrook Borough and Susquehanna Township to the Capital Region Water sanitary sewer collection and conveyance system, a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)-permitted system. Lack of maintenance and known structural inadequacies of the VCP line resulted in deterioration over time to the point of repeated failure. Penbrook Borough entered into a Consent Order Agreement (COA) with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) to address periodic sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in the Borough’s Asylum Run sanitary sewer interceptor.

RETTEW designed and replaced approximately 4,400 LF of VCP with a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sanitary sewer line, as well as 14 48-inch manholes. The project also involved construction of an access/maintenance road for staging and additional workspace, as well as improving a section of the Capital Area Greenbelt trail. Replacing the sewer interceptor will eliminate periodic SSOs of untreated sewage into Asylum Run, which is an impaired water of the Commonwealth. This project will have a direct positive impact on public health and safety and the water quality of Asylum Run, improve the sewer line capacity to handle existing and potential additional flow, and meet the terms of the PA DEP COA. The project was partially funded by the Dauphin County Local Share Municipal Grant Program.