Following the heavy rain that fell Friday, March 31, about 2.7 million gallons of sewer water was released from three underground locations into the Jones Falls.

These incidents occurred in structured overflows at North Charles and West Lanvale Streets, 1901 Falls Road, and 428 East Preston Street, and did not spill onto any streets. Structured overflows were designed into the City’s sewer system more than 100 years ago to provide such releases when the sewers became inundated with rainwater. They are being eliminated as the capacity of Baltimore’s sewer collection and treatment systems are upgraded as part of the City’s sewer system consent decree.

The Baltimore City Health Department and the Maryland Department of the Environment were notified of the releases.

The public is reminded to avoid contact with urban waterways due to the risk of pollution. For information about health concerns as a result of sewer overflows please go to http://health.baltimorecity.gov/sanitary-sewer-overflows-sso.