Left to Right, Jay Blue and Tray Harris, of GPH Services, pump out a manhole at the intersection of North Mills Avenue & Princeton Street, on Monday, October 3, 2022. (High-dynamic-range composite image by Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Orlando Sentinel)

The sewage overflowing from a manhole in residential Azalea Park has settled into a predictable pattern since Ian caused widespread damage to sewers. By day, it’s a babbling brook. By evening, as cooking, showering and washing picks up, a flow of another sort erupts.

“It’s a geyser,” said Larry Kidd, a 35-year resident of Yucatan Drive, which fronts Yucatan Park and is a route for walking to school. “Every time someone flushes their toilet in Azalea Park, it shoots out right here. I can’t believe the manhole cover hasn’t blown off.”

The area is just east of Orlando in Orange County, though Kidd is connected to the city’s sewer service. He said he called every number he could think of, including Orange County’s 311 hotline, 911 and a state department of health number, which responded with assurances a clean-up crew would be dispatched.

“It’s been reported repeatedly,” Kidd said. “Nobody came. Nobody cares.”

From pollution spill reports to the state, Central Florida wastewater utilities were badly disrupted by Ian’s torrential downpours and power outages. The storm caused widespread spills from manholes along sewage pipelines, from sewage pumping houses, called lift stations, and from treatment plants. Manholes are vaults under streets connected to pipes of individual homes and businesses, and to an incoming and outgoing pipeline.

Crews work to pump out sewage at the intersection of North Mills Avenue & Princeton Street, on Monday, October 3, 2022. (High-dynamic-range composite image by Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Orlando Sentinel)

Kidd said he hopes utilities learn urgent lessons and quickly act to harden their systems, which are gigantic and constructed with pipelines and hardware spanning many eras of technology.

Ian’s rains, Kidd said, “won’t be the last.”

Orlando has been particularly hard hit by sewage system troubles but other providers have been roiled as well.

Elsewhere in Central Florida, the more than foot of rain across Seminole County has left critical portions of Sanford’s sewage infrastructure still under floodwaters.

A manhole at East Seminole Boulevard and North Mellonville Avenue, about 10 blocks east of downtown Sanford and at the edge of Lake Monroe, which is part of the St. Johns River, has spilled 10,000 gallons of sewage mixed with storm water, according to a report made Monday.

On Tuesday, the wastewater mix was still flowing into Lake Monroe.

Sanford’s utility manager, Bill Marcous, said the sewer line at the intersection is a major artery of the city’s wastewater system. The manhole is still under floodwater, making it difficult to know the rate of spilled sewage, he said.

“We cannot confirm the status of that location until the lake water recedes,” Marcous said.

The city’s North Water Reclamation Facility, several blocks west of the city’s marina, has taken in wastewater at a rate of two or three times more than the maximum amount the plant was built for — 14 million gallons a day.

Another manhole a mile south of downtown at 24th Place and Maple Avenue also has spilled approximately 10,000 gallons, with that release ongoing and flowing into a stormwater drain, according to a report filed Monday.

At Lake Monroe, the city is posting signs that warn of potentially high bacterial levels and “no swimming - no fishing.”

West Seminole Boulevard riverwalk is covered by the rising waters on Lake Monroe in Sanford, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. The downtown Sanford area is flooding along the St. John’s River as the after affects of Hurricane Ian are felt throughout Central Florida. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Also pummeled was Altamonte Spring’s system near the Little Wekiva River on the city’s west side.

One of its lift stations along the river and near Little Wekiva Road was submerged by 1 p.m. Thursday, causing it to shut down. That station released an estimated 55,000 gallons of sewage and storm water into the river. It is still out of service but no longer receives sewage.

Another station near the river and Montgomery Road was flooded by 2 p.m. Thursday and went out of service, releasing an estimated 75,000 gallons. That station is back online.

Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Martz said the river is slowly receding, having reached a peak of more than 1,000 percent of its normal flow. He said health risks from sewage are no longer present.

“It’s gone with the heavy flow,” Martz said.

Winter Park’s overflow from a manhole along Lakemont Avenue has continued but with some halts, including Monday night.

No warning signs have been posted and residents say that city officials have offered little information on when the mess may end.

The front and back yards of several homes along the west side of the road have been flooded with murky water carrying a telltale stench, while traffic is churning the runoff into a mist.

“My head is killing me from the smell,” said Debbie Pappas. “They should be posting signs saying to stay away from it, that it’s sewage.”

Winter Park had several other prolonged spills according to state reporting.

Orange County’s sewage utility, though suffering widely scattered outages during the storm, has recovered significantly.

Spokesperson Debbie Sponsler said that five of 830 lift stations are relying on backup power from generators, there are no ongoing spills or overflows and that county treatment plants are operating within their designed capacities.

“I want to say that we were very fortunate,” said Ed Torres, the county’s utility director. “Out of 830-plus pump stations, we had some minor overflows in some 20 to 30 locations in between from the time that we lost power and the time we got the generators there.”

The city of Orlando’s system was so crippled, including a critical segment of pipe installed in the 1940s, that leaders urged residents to cut back sharply on water use that results in adding flow to the sewage system.

By early Tuesday afternoon, the request had been lifted, according to robo calls made by the city’s drinking water utility, Orlando Utilities Commission.

After being asked about conditions at Yucatan Drive and near the downtown YMCA, where another manhole has steadily belched out waste water for days, the city responded that crews would be sent for cleanups at those locations.

“As crews work to put up safety barriers in reported locations with manhole overflows, it’s important to remind residents to use caution when driving on streets with standing water and not to drive over them,” said spokesperson Ashley Pagagni.

The city’s wastewater plants have been overwhelmed with flows, including to the Iron Bridge Water Pollution Control Facility near the University of Central Florida.

On Tuesday afternoon, the city reported that one of its most important sewer lines, a 36-inch pipeline alongside the Cady Way Trail east of Fashion Square Mall, had failed.

Excavation of 150 feet of the pipe found breakage and otherwise weakened condition. The city expected to finish repairs by Tuesday evening. The pipe’s flow ultimately goes to Iron Bridge.

“The pipe was approximately 80 years old and due to the prolonged heavy rainfall and water infiltration into the surrounding soil it exceeded its capacity,” Pagagni said in an email. “Our Public Works staff are currently replacing the damaged pipe with new materials, approximately 80-100 feet of new piping, and reinforcing its infrastructure.”

Stephen Hudak of the Sentinel staff contributed. kspear@orlandosentinel.com