SARASOTA, Fla. ( WWSB ) - It’s a heated topic in Bradenton -- The 1.7 million gallons of partially treated wastewater that was bypassed into the Manatee River after heavy rain Sept. 8.

Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown said the city is working hard to get to a point where that won’t have to happen again.

Brown said the city is building a new larger clarifier tank -- which will hold more wastewater.

Brown described the clarifier tank as a bathtub that gets filled up with wastewater to be treated. But heavy rain can fill up that tub faster than the water can be processed. To keep it from overflowing, workers open the drain - or bypass valve -- to drain some of that partially treated water.

The city is also building a new equalizer tank, allowing for three million gallons of overflow space whe

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