Louisville mayor: Don’t wash clothes or dishes. Sewer, stormwater systems at capacity due to rain
Residents of Kentucky’s largest city are being asked to conserve water and refrain from doing laundry or running dishwashers as the city’s stormwater and sewer system is at capacity due to days of relentless rain.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said Friday the Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District is currently at capacity and the department has been overrun with calls of sanitary back ups.
“Please refrain from running washing machines, dishwashers or other uses that send high volumes of water into the system until further notice,” Greenberg said on X and social media.
Metropolitan Sewer District has also instituted five floodwall road closures around the rising Ohio River. All of of MSD’s 16 pump stations will be operational by Sunday, according to Greenberg.
Louisville expects the city’s sanitary sewer system to return to normal by Sunday, he said.
MSD is also asking people to wait to report sewer back-ups until after the water recedes.
Greenberg is also warning residents the Ohio River continues to rise and is not expected to crest until Wednesday. This will cause flooding, Greenberg warned.
“We are expecting this extreme weather event to continue. This is incredibly serious.The Ohio River is expected to crest on Wednesday at 23 feet above what is normal,” Greenberg said on social media.
”We expect that this will be one of the 10 largest flood events in Louisville’s history.”
