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April rain is better than snow in Chardon
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - May 04, 2011)
April rain is better than snow in Chardon
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
No one has been spotted building an ark yet, but it sure seems the heavens have let loose with rains of biblical proportions over the last month.
While the TV weather forecasters have announced that the Cleveland area set rain records for the month of April, Chardon actually fell short of its rainiest Aprils on record.
"It's not a record," Gayland Moore, Chardon city's public service director said Monday.
Mr. Moore said this year's April total was 7.15 inches. But, just eight years ago, the city recorded 8.17 inches for the month, he said.
He said the city, which regularly tracks snowfall, does not keep tabs on rainfall as in the past. He said the city regularly posted rainfall totals in the past but abandoned them in favor of what the city is best known for -- its snow.
Mr. Moore said he was thankful that it was rain rather than snow this April. He said, had that precipitation fallen as snow, it would likely translate to about 10 inches of snow for every inch of rain.
He said as long as the city can keep its sewer grates open, the rain presents little problem along the streets.
But, Mr. Moore said, an abundance of rain can create problems, expensive ones, at its sewage-treatment plant.
When non-stop rain hits the area, the sewer systems are flowing with volumes that the treatment plant cannot handle.
Instead, the overflow spills into a reservoir for storage where it waits until the rains stop or slow, he said. Then, the reservoir is pumped back into the treatment plant for processing.
"The problem has been it hasn't stopped raining to allow for us to pump it back in," Mr. Moore said.
The continuous flow into the plant keeps the plant operating at a higher capacity, he said, and that means using more electricity to process it.
"The amount of electricity we're using is way up," Mr. Moore said. "That costs us a lot of money."
In addition, much of the sewer system relies on gravity to move the flow along. Gravity is free, he said.
But, there is an added cost to the city when there is such an abundance of rain and the reservoir keeps filling up. When it comes time to move that rain-swollen reservoir back to the plant for processing, he said, pumps must be used, which drives up the city's electrical bill even more.
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