A failure of two sewer lines left West Salem’s 34,000 residents without sewer service Friday afternoon with officials urging them to skip disposing of any water, from bathrooms to kitchen sinks to laundry rooms. City crews have pipe and supplies on hand needed to repair one line and will work through the night on a fix, said city spokesman Trevor Smith. They expect to have the system back online in the early hours of Saturday morning. Meantime, Salem public works crews had no choice but to let raw sewage spill out of pipelines and onto fields and parkland in West Salem as they worked to make repairs. The city said in a statement Friday evening that wastewater wwas being diverted into areas that include Glen Creek, River Bend Slough and Wallace Marine Park. “Signs are posted to warn residents to avoid these areas due to the potential for bacterial contamination. Water quality samples will continue to be taken until the results indicate that the issue has been cleared. Signs will be removed once the bacteria levels return to normal,” the city statement said. The city’s drinking water is a separate system and is not affected. About 8 million gallons of sewage flow daily from West Salem — enough to fill approximately 1,000 tanker trucks. The trouble started Thursday afternoon when a 50-year-old sewer line carrying waste from West Salem broke in Keizer just south of the sewage treatment plant. The line is one of two that normally carries sewage across the Willamette River to the city’s treatment center. The secondary 18-inch pipe was left handling all wastewater and also failed at about 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27. The Willamette River was running high Friday, Dec. 27, as city crews responded to a sewage main break that left raw wastewater spilling across creeks and fields in West Salem. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Untreated sewage then flowed across flooded fields and small creeks east of Northwest Wallace Road in the area of Wallace Marine Park. Crews opened five manholes to let sewage flow into low-lying areas and relieve pressure on the system. The sewage was expected to reach the Willamette River. Crews located the break in the first pipe shortly after it occurred at 4:30 p.m. and have been digging since to identify the extent of the corroded pipe. Contracted workers have been brought in to help. “They’ve been digging all day,” Smith said. “This is our highest priority.” The two pipes sit next to each other, and both have significant corrosion. Smith said crews have identified a 400-foot stretch that needs to be replaced. Repairs are beginning Friday evening on the 18-inch pipe, Smith said. A needed piece of 24-inch pipe is expected to arrive Saturday morning, which will allow crews to fix the other line. The two lines travel north of West Salem under the Willamette River and into the treatment plant in Keizer. Smith said the city had no estimate of how much sewage was spilling, and rainy weather will make precise estimates difficult. “It’s going to be significant,” he said. A flooded field on Northwest Riverbend Road in West Salem on Friday, Dec. 27. City crews responded to a sewage main break that left raw wastewater spilling across creeks and fields in West Salem. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Early Friday afternoon, the city went public with a plea for those in West Salem to reduce their use of their sewers. They urged people not to flush toilets, delay “non-essential” water uses such as for cleaning dishes and laundry. “Limiting the flow of water into the sewer system will help manage and slow the flow of wastewater being released into the creeks, streams, and Willamette River,” the city said in an alert notice sent to West Salem residents. But Friday afternoon, businesses seemed unaware of the request to limit water use. Restaurants remained open. Employees at Annette’s Westgate and Momiji, both located on Northwest Edgewater Street, were unaware of the city’s emergency alert. Neither restaurant had plans to close or change operations because of the sewer situation, employees said. Smith said the city has no plans to mandate that residents or businesses reduce water use.  “This has already released an excessive amount of wastewater into the environment,” he said, but “if you can wait to do laundry on Sunday, that would be beneficial.” Capital Manor, a retirement community in West Salem, alerted its residents to guidance from the city about the sewer episode. Office specialist Elisa Vargas said Friday afternoon that some residents had asked about the issue and were advised to reduce their water use. The sewage stoppage came at the end of a holiday week when many people have taken extra time off from work. And it occurred as Salem faced one rain storm after another. The city got more than 2 inches of rain over the past two days. The heavy rain has pushed up the Willamette, which has climbed nearly eight feet since Christmas Day and Friday afternoon was flowing at 72,400 cubic feet per second – four times the rate of a year ago. That means the sewage will dilute faster. Rachel Alexander, Madeleine Moore, Ardeshir Tabrizian and Les Zaitz contributed reporting. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post City plans to fix West Salem sewer main early Saturday as raw sewage spills into Willamette River appeared first on Salem Reporter.