Planning has begun on a three-year project to update the sewer system on campus to ease the burden of the current system. 

The last major sewer work in the Campustown area was completed in 1946, sanitary district Executive Director Rick Manner said. 

Manner said since then, the population using the system has expanded and overwhelms the current system, which can no longer handle the growth of Campustown and Champaign areas. 

A pump station will be placed on Second Street, just west of Scott Park in a parking area. This station will resemble a small shed and cover the area of a few parking spaces. 

There will also be a force pipe built that will pump sewage from the west to the south. The pipe will go south on Second Street to Chalmers Street and continue east on Chalmers. 

Once the pipe reaches Washington Park, the system may cross the park to get to Armory Avenue, Manner said. It would then continue on Fourth Street to Windsor. The addition of the force pipe would divert the waste to the west, which will lessen the burden. 

Manner said another option they are considering to help control waste is the construction of an additional pipe, although this option is more complex and expensive. 

The change will not only account for the growing population, but the future expansion of the Research Park, Manner said.

The project is still in the planning phase, but 1000 feet have been laid under the pavement on Fourth Street.   

Manner anticipates the project to be completed in 2017.

The sanitation district will begin offering tours of its facility on Sept. 13 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.