Kansas Collection System Operations: Combined Sewers, SSOs & the KCK Consent Decree
Mostly Separate Sanitary Sewers, With One Major Exception
Most Kansas municipal wastewater collection systems are built as separate sanitary sewers — dedicated pipe networks carrying only wastewater, distinct from storm drainage. The notable exception is Kansas City, Kansas, governed by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, whose older urban core retains legacy combined sewers (carrying both stormwater and sanitary wastewater in the same pipe).
Combined sewers are prone to combined sewer overflows (CSOs) during heavy rain, when pipe capacity is exceeded and a mix of stormwater and untreated wastewater can discharge to a waterway. Because of this, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas operates under an EPA consent-decree infrastructure control plan