This article examines the problems the Milwaukee sewage system has in coping with large rainfalls. In particular, Milwaukee's sewers cannot hold enough water to prevent a massive dump of polluted water into Lake Michigan if weather conditions are severe enough. To compensate for this problem, Milwauklee has been ordered by the Enviromental Protection Agency to build a better, bigger system, called a sanitary sewer system, that separates waste water from runoff water. Budget constraints have kept this project on the drawing board.