Grease deposits, kitchen materials and a sewer system approximately 50 years old are among issues Sacramento State is dealing with only four weeks into the semester.

After the sewer system backed up into the Utilities Closet in the River Front Center at the beginning of the semester, the plumbing department of Facilities Management began to snake the drain and sewer lines in an attempt to curb further blockage of grease deposits and other kitchen materials.

The sewer snaking process, described as preventative maintenance by Associate Vice President of Facilities Management, Matthew Altier, will occur on a bi-weekly basis until Prop. 47 passes and the infrastructure project is received.

“If Prop 47 passes, it’s our number one project to get funding and it will take care of a lot of our sewer system problems all over campus,” said Altier.

According to Altier, if the bond measure does not pass, Sac State will continue to pursue other ways to get funding or until the bond does pass.

“One thing to remember is that a lot of our utility systems (underground systems) are original from the 1950’s. We’ve reached capacity or they’re worn out and we need to replace them and that is what this project will do for us,” Altier said.

“This infrastructure upgrade will give us expanded capacity so we can take on new buildings without a lot of problems,” said Altier.

The main sewage trunk goes down Sinclair Rd. and crosses State University Dr. West and the par-shell flume; a mechanism which measures the amount of flow near the bus stop.

“There are two 45 degree elbows and for us to repair that it will take us to dig up the whole patio, so if we address that in advance of infrastructure two it will have to be when school is not in session,” said Linda Hafar, utilities & building maintenance director.

New buildings such as Modoc Hall should not be affected since future sewer lines will be directly tied into Sacramento County system, not the older campus pipes, according to Hafar.

“Somebody should have convinced them by now they need to do something else other than snake it. If it is a break in the pipe, snaking out the line every two weeks is useless,” said Todd Gentry, a plumber with Acme Plumbing & Drain. “If it has dirt filtering into the line, it’s going to keep closing off the line.”

“There are several things that need to be done and the amount of money they are spending snaking a line every two weeks could have been spent better either cleaning the line, inspecting the line with a camera and locating the problems and repairing them if need be,” Gentry said. “If the line is clear, then you can run a camera through and if it is just packed with grease, you can clean it out with a hydro-jetter and it will cost a few hundred dollars.”

“All gray (waste) water and sewage needs to flow away from the facility,” said Kellie McCoy, environment health specialist, supervisor.

Though not required by county ordinance, grease traps are a possible solution to this problem, or pouring the grease into a grease bin, which will be taken to the landfill, according to McCoy.