City crews spent 13 hours repairing a sewer line Thursday after sewage was seen spilling out of a vault inside a lift station in a Bonney Lake subvision.

The incident happened about 1:39 p.m. at Lift Station No. 19 in the Willow Brook subsivision off Angeline Road.

Public Works Director Dan Grigsby said people noticed sewage flowing into an adjacent cow pasture.

Grigsby said crews immediately mobilized to stop the flow and repair the sewer line.

A 12-member crew was at the site at various times operating vactors, backhoes, dump trucks, compressors and other equipment under the guidance of Supervisor Dave Cihak with assistance from Supervisor Steve Willadson and Lead Worker Curt Roundtree.

Two vacuum trucks sucked up the sewage from the wet well and transported it to Lift Station No. 19. The trucks were also used to dig down to the broken sewer line.

Crews discovered the 90-degree elbow coming out of the valve pit had broken.

Grigsby reported the break occurred where the plastic pipe attaches to the ductile iron coming out of the vault. There were two 45-degree bends glued together that were not driven all the way home, he said.

A third tank truck was brought in to haul sewage when the volume increased after residents begin to return home at the end of the day. Grigsby said the first repair failed due to pressure and had to redone.

They complete repairs about 3 a.m. Friday.

“This is the fifth or sixth break of this sewer line between these two lift stations in the last five years,” Grigsby said.

He said a project has been created to replace this pressure line when funding is available.

“In the interim, we will do what it takes to make the emergency repairs when needed,” he added.

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