At approximately 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 7, 2024, wastewater was discovered flowing out of the ground due to a break in a pressurized wastewater line from a lift station located on Cottonwood Drive in Cedar Falls. Tanker trucks were able to bypass pump from the lift station, stopping the overflow of wastewater around 1:00 p.m. A contractor is on site and emergency repairs have begun. However, untreated wastewater did escape into a nearby creek for an undetermined amount of time.
Crews will be disinfecting and monitoring the area. As a precaution, residents living along the creek north of Cardinal Drive in Waterloo and other nearby residents in the Rainbow Drive, Longview Drive, Helen Road, Niagara Drive, and North Hackett Road neighborhoods should keep children and pets away from the creek for the next few days.