The sewer system in Minneapolis
830 miles of sanitary sewers, 509 miles of storm pipes, 12 miles of deep storm tunnels and 31 miles of sanitary main and interceptor tunnels are all working in conjunction under Minneapolis streets. This infrastructure helps to safely move sewage to be properly treated, and to transport stormwater as cleanly as possible to the waters of Minneapolis.
18,000 storm manholes and 32,000 sanitary manholes allow access to the both systems for maintenance and repair. Almost 29,000 storm drain inlets receive stormwater before sending them to the Mississippi River and the lakes and creeks in Minneapolis.
How much stormwater and wastewater is treated?
Almost all storm drains in Minneapolis have been separated into storm and sewer pipes. The stormwater is not treated at all, and flows through a series of pipes and handling over 57 square miles of surface runoff, before flowing directly to water bodies of Minneapolis.
Wastewater from over 100,000 buildings in Minneapolis runs through the sanitary sewers to the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is operated and maintained by Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) in St. Paul. The City of Minneapolis pays fees to MCES, which go towards maintaining its regional collection system and the direct costs of wastewater treatment.