Where Does your Responsibility End, and the Local Water Authority’s Begin? Your Plumber Must Determine
Maintenance of your sewer main is shared by you and your local water authority. If a back up occurs on your part of the sewer main, or “on-property,” it is your responsibility to fix it and to pay for it. If it happens on your local water authority’s part of the system, or “off-property,” it is their responsibility to fix it and to pay for it.
It is up to the homeowner’s plumber to make the determination on whose part of the sewer main the back up is located and to let the local water authority know if there is a problem with their part of the sewer system. So it is important to make sure you hire a plumber who specializes in diagnosing sewer backups.
How Can You Tell if Your Back Up is “On-Property” or “Off-Property?”
The place where your responsibility ends and the local water authority’s begins is in your lateral sewer main. The lateral is the sewer main that runs from your house and connects to the local water authority’s sewer main.
Every home on your block has a lateral sewer main that connects to the sewer main of the local water authority, which is also called a sewer main, so differentiating between the two in conversation can be confusing.
So at what spot in your lateral sewer main does your responsibility ends and the local authority’s responsibility begin? It is different in every home, and it is up to your plumber to determine whose portion of the lateral main the back up resides on, yours or the local water authority’s. That is why it is important to choose a plumber who specializes in diagnosing sewer backups.
A Sewer Back Up is an Expensive Problem, Unless it is Not Your Problem…
Your plumber should be able to tell you which main is affected, your lateral main or the local authority’s sewer main. And if the back up is in the lateral main, your plumber needs to be able to tell you if the back up is in the “on-property” portion of the lateral, or in the “off-property” portion.
Your local water authority relies on the plumbers hired by homeowners to let them know when there are off-property backups so they can send the proper teams out to correct the problems.
Camera and Diagnostic Equipment are Critical to Determine where the Back Up is Located
Luckily Anthony’s plumbers have cameras to make the job of diagnosing and repairing sewer backups easier. If your plumber finds that your back up is off-property, they will be able to take pictures to prove where the blockage is. These cameras also have receivers and digital location systems which identify the location and depth of pipes.
In some cases, it may cost extra for a plumber to use this diagnostic equipment, but it is well worth the money for homeowners if it can determine that backups are off-property. Cameras allow plumbers to make better and faster repairs to your pipes which can also save you money in labor.
They can quickly tell you where the blockage is, and determine if there are sewer pipe repairs are needed as well, and where, to minimize digging.
The Benefits of Opening vs. Cleaning
There is a difference between opening a sewer main to temporarily resolve a backup, and cleaning a sewer main completely, especially in price. Many plumbers will advise homeowners to opt for opening a pipe, which involves punching a hole in the back up with a snake, leaving only a partial opening, rather than completely cleaning the pipe.
It is much easier and more affordable to open a pipe than clean it out completely, and homeowners appreciate the cost savings. To avoid the need for repeated drain openings and to provide a more permanent fix, a sewer main needs to be thoroughly cleaned, not just opened.
When Your Plumber Fixes Off-Property Back Ups, They Need to Tell the Local Water Authority
If your plumber determines that your back up is “off-property,” they will still fix the back up for you and have the local water authority reimburse you for the work. Even if your plumber is able to correct a back up that is off-property, the local water authority still wants to be informed by your plumber so they can keep an eye on it and make further repairs if necessary.
A sewer main backup can cause devastating damage to multiple homeowners if left unchecked, even so as to require a house to be condemned if waste backs up and ruins electrical and HVAC equipment. Water levels can rise quickly during a sewer main break before there is time to intercede. So the role of the plumber in diagnosing and reporting sewer main problems is a critical one.
How Do I Know if My Back Up is in the Sewer Main Lateral or Just the Floor Drain?
Sewer main backups require much heavier snakes to open your 3 to 4 inch lateral than snakes that can negotiate a 2-inch branch line to your floor drain, so it is important to know where your back up resides, so you can call the right plumber. The easiest test is to check to see if toilet paper or human waste is present in the standing water. If no waste is present, have a spotter watch the floor drain while you run cold water into a bathtub somewhere else in the house for several minutes.
If the spotter never sees any water rise, then the back up is in the floor drain. If water does rise, then the back up is in the sewer main lateral or local authority’s sewer main. Sometimes sewer main backups can cause water to back up in your toilet or bathtub instead of your floor drain, even though the floor drain is lower.
How Do You Clear a Back Up in the Lateral Sewer Main?
You can never clear a lateral sewer main back up through the floor drain, so if the plumber you call attempts to do so you have not chosen the right plumber. Lateral backups can only be cleared through your home’s main inside clean out which is located on the lower level and capped by a screw on plug.
Occasionally homeowners make the mistake covering up access to clean outs during remodeling; if that is the case, laterals backups must be cleared by removing a toilet and snaking from there. If worst comes to worst a lateral back up can also be cleared from the stack which extends above the roof where the sewer gases escape, but the cost of hoisting equipment to the roof can be great.
Choose Wisely, and Seek Professional Advice
Sewer backups put your life on hold, but don’t get in a hurry and hire the first plumber available or the cheapest one you can find. Be patient and qualify plumbers carefully; you will save a lot of money and time and aggravation. Call us at A-N-T-H-O-N-Y (268-4669) KS or MO and we will help you through this process. For more information on fixing and preventing different drain issues, click here to read our blog on “Easing Drain Pain.”