The Connecticut River with skyline of Springfield on a summer day. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD — The heavy rain over the last few days resulted in more than 7 million gallons of rainwater and untreated sewage spilling into the Connecticut River Thursday, and the Springfield Water & Sewer Commission is recommending people avoid contact with the water for two days.

The discharges, called combined sewer overflows, happen everything time there is substantial rainfall, particularly from thunderstorms, said Jaimye Bartak, communications director for the Springfield Water & Sewer Commission.

The announcement by Springfield follows a similar announcement from Chicopee’s Water Pollution Control Department on Wednesday about discharges from pumping stations into the Connecticut and Chicopee rivers.

Bartak said people should avoid the river for two days because of increased health risk from bacteria and other pollutants. The discharge has stopped and the water will clear as the water flows downstream.

Affected communities include Springfield, West Springfield, Agawam and Longmeadow.

Combined sewer overflows, which consist of rainwater and untreated sewage and waste, are a problem for most older cities along the East Coast.

In Springfield, the overflows date back to the construction of its sewer system in the late 1800s. In older parts of the city, underground pipes collect stormwater, and when there is heavy rain, the pipes become full. They were designed originally to overflow into the river rather than backing up into streets or dwellings.

“It’s not how a city would be built today but it’s a legacy design in many older cities,” she said.

She said the Water & Sewer Commission has been working on the overflow problem since the 1990s.

The $137 million York Street pumping station and river crossing project, when it is in operation next year, will increase the pumping capacity to move an additional 100 million gallons of combined sewer overflows each year to the wastewater treatment plant on Bondi’s Island instead of directly into the river.

Massachusetts adopted regulations last fall requiring communities to issue notifications whenever there is a combined sewage overflow discharge.

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