During deluge, 1.8 million gallons of sewage spilled from Miami-Dade’s North plant

About 1.8 million gallons of sewage spilled from Miami-Dade’s North wastewater treatment plant on Monday, a spokeswoman said, blaming the failure on heavy rains and improperly flushed materials.

Jennifer Messemer, a spokeswoman for the county agency, said repair crews were able to fix the problem after 7 p.m.

She blamed the failure on two factors: heavy rain that increased the volume of fluid flowing into the treatment plant through leaky pipes, and reduced flow from clogs brought on by people flushing store-bought wipes and other materials not made for toilets.

Water and Sewer said the toilet-paper shortage brought on by panic buying during the coronavirus emergency has worsened the problem of improperly flushed materials, which Messemer said helped cause the backup that sent sewage spilling out from the plant at 2575 NE 156th St.

“The screens were clogged up,” Messemer said.

She said the spill lasted about three and a half hours. She said it’s not yet known how far the sewage spread. “A good amount of it was contained inside the...building itself,” she said.