If you start seeing smoke in odd places around Whitesburg, the city has contractors smoke-testing the Whitesburg sewer system.
Engineers are checking to make sure gutters and storm drains are not connected to the sanitary sewer system which can lead to trouble because it increases the amount of sewage to be treated.
The Mountain Eagle reports some homeowners do it to keep water out of their yards but it’s illegal and the city is on the hunt for it. In addition, the engineers are looking for ways to make the system more efficient.
They will be doing this smoke testing for several months.