Sewer Division

The City of Marshalltown Sewer Division is responsible for maintaining all storm and sanitary sewer piping and structures located within the city limits of Marshalltown. The department is staffed by 1 Supervisor, 5 Maintenance Worker II's and 1 Data Management Coordinator.  Collectively, department personnel have combined 133+ years of experience working for storm and sanitary collection systems of Marshalltown.

We are able to maintain both system by utilizing a small fleet of specialized sewer/excavating equipment as well as being able to draw from other City departments when needed.  The Sewer Division also assists other departments when needed for snow removal operations or disaster response.  

Our storm and sanitary sewer systems are each a separate closed piping system. This means that all water runoff from the streets and waterways and creeks will eventually enter the Iowa River watershed without treatment.  All sanitary sewer flows, from flushing a toilet or putting something down a drain, will be directed to the Water Pollution Control Plant and treated before discharging to the Iowa River.  It is vital that we maintain the two separate systems so that we can help achieve water quality requirements as they discharge into the Iowa River and flow to our neighbors downstream.

Fast Facts

  • There are 3,648 storm structures in our storm system
  • We maintain approximately 61 miles of storm sewer piping ranging in size from 6" to 72" in diameter
  • There are 3,125 sanitary sewer structures in our sanitary sewer system. 
  • We maintain approximately 149 miles of sanitary sewer pipe ranging from 6" to 42" in diameter. 
  • The city cleans 1/5th of the total amount of sanitary sewers in the 6" to 12" range yearly. These pipes are targeted because they make up 80% of the system and are located mostly in residential areas.
  • The dike system that protects our city from flooding was built by the Army Corp of Engineers in 1972.
  • The Water Pollution Control Plan is the lowest point in Marshalltown. There is 142' of elevation difference between the farthest sanitary sewer in the southwest corner of town and the inlet into the Water Pollution Control Plant on the farthest northeast corner of town.
  • The deepest sewer manhole is over 40' deep.