Axl Rose said it’s hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain. Well, it’s hard to watch that rain inundate your collections system and overwhelm your treatment plant, too. He probably would have mentioned that in the song, but it’s not quite as lyrical as the whole candle thing.

Inflow and infiltration is insidious. It brings sand and sediment into pipes, prematurely wears lift station pumps and can overwhelm treatment facilities, which can lead to a whole host of...