Treated effluent spills into the East Fork of the Carson River after a sewer line broke along Muller Lane on Tuesday.
Muller Lane reopened Thursday after a line carrying treated effluent from Lake Tahoe to the East Valley was repaired.
The break in the Douglas County Sewer District No. 1 line occurred around 11 a.m. Tuesday, pouring thousands of gallons into the East Fork of the Carson River.
The effluent was on its way to a winter storage pond the district shares with the Minden-Gardnerville Sanitation District. In the summer the effluent is used to irrigate Park and Bently fields.
No threat from the spill has been identified by the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, and no clean-up is required, spokeswoman Jo Ann Kittrell said
“Effluent is treated waste water,” she said. “It’s not raw sewage. Treatment disinfects the water, so while it does not meet safe drinking water standards, it is permitted by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection for crop irrigation.”