AS a result of the heavy rainfall across the region last Thursday and Friday, MidCoast Council’s sewer network became inundated with stormwater.

While the network itself is functioning effectively, the amount of water in the system is causing a number of issues.

Sewer overflows occurred at a number of locations across the local government area with some overflow relief gullies overflowing outside some homes.

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In some instances, people may have been experiencing drainage issues with their sinks, showers and toilets.

“We’re currently doing everything we can to keep the network running effectively,” said Council’s Director of Infrastructure and Engineering Services, Rob Scott on Friday.

“Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for the rain to pass for the pressure on the network to ease significantly.”

Mr Scott said while weather events like this were unavoidable, there were other factors that contributed to the pressure on the sewer network.

“The network is designed to take a significant amount of rainfall, but we also know there are illegal roof connections and broken or missing inspection shaft lids that are contributing to the amount of water in the system.

“One average sized roof illegally connected to the sewer system can add 10,000 litres of water into the network in a 50mm rain event – and we’ve had a lot more than 50mm in the last 24 hours.”

Mr Scott urged people to ensure the lids on their inspection shafts were firmly in place to avoid placing further stress on the network.