The innovation still hasn't made it to Fort Wayne, which is emerging from a cholera epidemic that claimed hundreds of lives. Waste-eating hogs, which had been allowed to roam free, are banned from city streets. Downstream residents complain. Downstream people don't agree. The city hires a Cleveland consultant to study the sewers.
Consultant recommends construction of a treatment plant.
Mayor agrees, City Council doesn't. Downstream people complain. Downstream people cheer. More than 2,500 people complain of flooding into homes caused by backups in those combined sewers. Combined sewers are still backing up.