Smoke used to test sewers in St. Pete

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If you live in the Northwest Neighborhood of St. Petersburg – you may have seen a bizarre sight of smoke billowing up out of the ground, and from manholes.

But don’t worry – it’s all part of the city’s effort to get it’s sewage problems together.

City crews were blowing smoke into man holes -- if the smoke comes up through the ground, they were able to pin point leaky pipes.

This work is part of the effort for St. Pete to fix their failing sewage infrastructure – right now – on a sunny day, two thirds of the water going to waste treatment plants, comes from ground water seeping into leaky pipes.