Harmar Township officials assured residents they will find an answer to their sewage backup issues as they continue their investigation.

During the supervisors’ Nov. 18 meeting, residents were updated on what is next on the township’s agenda to finding the main cause of the sanitary sewage overflows.

It’s an issue brought up by residents from the Chapel Downs housing plan in September.

Harmar Supervisor Bob Seibert said the township will exhaust as many options as necessary to find answers.

”We are not walking away from this. I am treating this as if it is my own home,” he told residents during the meeting.

A smoke test was conducted between late September and early October. The test was done from Highbury Road to the township boundary. During the process, township engineer Matthew Pitsch said a suspect pipe containing blockage was found between Philomena Circle and Bromley Circle. Jetting equipment was used to eliminate it.

A sewer camera was used in October to further investigate the pipes.

Pitsch said the test found the issue was not residential roof downspouts being connected to the sanitary sewer, as often has been the case in other towns.

“We have discovered some minor issues that we will work to repair, but have not found the main cause of the backups yet,” Pitsch said.

The township recently sent a notice to inspect the pipes at Adat Shalom, a community synagogue near the boundaries where the smoke testing was done. Pitsch said that while the synagogue is located in Indiana Township, the building’s pipes flow into Harmar’s sanitary sewer system.

Pitsch said the township would need to buy a 6-inch camera line to look into the synagogue’s lines because the current sewer camera can only handle 8-inch lines. The board unanimously voted to approve the purchase of a 6-inch camera. The township would like to inspect with the new camera equipment by the first week of December.

If the township is unable to find an answer to the sewage backup issues, backflow preventers will be the fallback plan, Pitsch said.

“We will be back to the drawing board,” he said.

Harmar resident Judy Burek asked officials if the work can be done before spring.

Chairman Bob Exler told residents the township is taking the matter seriously and will be working as fast as it can to find a resolution.

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