The city of Pittsburgh has engineered a highly effective sewer system which is designed to induce an overflow, if necessary. This may seem counterintuitive but the reason is due to heavy rains which pour into street-level storm drains, mix with sewage and quickly overwhelm the system. When the gates at the intercept structures are activated, they open and release the excess into the rivers. Otherwise, there would be the unfortunate alternative of raw sewage backing up into homes and onto
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