Did you know that everything that goes down your sinks, showers, bathtubs, and toilets goes through the pipes in your homes, through the sewer conveyance system, and all the way to the City of Merced Wastewater Treatment Plant?

The City's conveyance system consists of pipes (main lines, laterals, trunk and force mains), lift stations, wet wells, and manholes.

• Main Lines: These lines collect wastewater from several lateral lines within neighborhoods and businesses.

• Laterals: The smallest pipes in the system, they collect wastewater from a single building or home and connect it to a larger public sewer main.

• Trunks: These pipes are large, central lines that receive wastewater from multiple main lines. They serve as major arteries in the collection system.

• Manholes: These are access points in an underground sewer network that allow for inspections, maintenance, and repair of the conveyance system.

The City's sewer conveyance system utilizes gravity and relies on the natural slope of the pipes to move wastewater through. Once the lowest elevation has been reached, we rely on lift stations to pump the sewage back up to its highest elevation. 

• Lift Stations: Consist of the wet well, pumps, control panels, and the force main.

• Wet Wells: Underground tanks in the sewer conveyance system that collect wastewater and stores it until the pump can lift it. They act as a buffer against sudden flow changes and are a necessary part of a lift station.

• Control Panels and Pumps: An electrical system that receives signals from the wet well sensors and controls the pumps' on/off cycles. The pumps are electric and move the wastewater uphill.

• Force Main: The lift stations create pressure to force the wastewater through this pressurized pipe and back up to the highest elevation.

The goal of the Water Quality Control Division is to ensure the safety of citizens and staff through education.

Trash like baby wipes or cleaning wipes don't break down like toilet paper, once flushed, they eventually make their way to a lift station and get wrapped up in the pumps and propellers causing them to stop working. Please remember that only the 3 Ps are allowed in toilets - Poop, Pee & Paper (toilet paper), all other items should be thrown in a trashcan.

Fats, Oils & Greases can build up in the conveyance system creating a blockage where eventually the only direction for it to go is back. These items could lead to sanitary sewer overflows into our public streets and even your homes. Food scraps should be tossed into your food waste containers and Fats, Oils & Greases should be scraped into a container (metal or glass), cooled, then thrown away in the regular garbage. Remember to "Can it, Cool it, Bag it, Trash it." Large quantity cooking oils should be disposed of at a local waste oil disposal facility or landfill; they do not belong in the trash.