KDKA Investigates Sewer Fixes Could Bankrupt Homeowners

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by SuburbanPioneer

I have a great quote for the occasion:

Quotes from the guy who put forth trickle down economics and once argued that there was no word in Russian for "freedom" aren't that convincing.

[RyanR]

Originally Posted by sskink

Well hell. Storm sewer by me backed up in a storm last year, then because my driveway drain are downspouts are correctly connected, the storm water backed up into my driveway halfway up my garage doors, flooding garage, basement, laundry to 5" deep. But I couldn't collect anything from the municipality. I hate it when it only works one way.

I'd suggest you consider a sewer line check valve. That will stop any mainline back flow into your house.

Here's the first site that popped up that discusses it so you can get more detail.
Guide to Backwater Valves, Check Valves or Toilet Plugs to Prevent Sewer Line / Septic Line Backups into the Building

[ferraris]

I remember paying a small $25 or $30 fee to avoid the dye test when I bought my home last year. I think I was grandfathered in?

If the city won't let you drain to your yard, maybe a rain barrel would be an affordable alternative?

[ditchdigger]

Why not just turn water from downspouts away from the sewage drain and onto the
road/lawn/woods?

The city's problem is that, if you look at those maps, in all the places that have combination sewers , generally, all the rain that falls on the pavement (that would be the streets, and any driveways that drain onto them) also goes into the combination sewer. I'll bet you dollars to donuts that in almost every case, the street in front of property contributes more to the problem than the property itself.

Even though my fellow ditchdiggers might stand to make a lot of money because of the regulations, I think it's ridiculous for the EPA to be beating up on homeowners while the city streets are a much larger part of the problem.

They could take some of money from the multi-billion dollar sewer overhaul
and fix these problems with it rather than have the financial burden fall on the
people.

If you think about it, that's likely to make the magnitude of the problem for individual property owners worse. If they go and separate the storm and sanitary sewers on any given street, properties that are now exempt because of being on a combination sewer will now be required to come into compliance.

Something else that hasn't been mentioned, either here or in the KDKA piece, is the "French Drains" around the house foundation. They're the perforated pipe that allows ground water to run somewhere else than through the wall into the basement. They're a darn sight harder to put somewhere else than downspouts, because they're already almost as deep as the sanitary sewer lateral. Where I live, the township tests to be sure they're not tied into the sanitary lines, as they often are...

[Catia]

Not saying it's legal, but every single person I know who lives in the city of PGH disconnected from the sewers & has run the roof water etc across their yards in some fashion.
Some have even tiered some gardens to absorb additional water. This is a legitimate alternative IMHO, & I was unaware it was not legal.

I have only seen 1 house forced into some type of compliance, & it was a person NOT from PGH who purchased in Carrick. On the corner of Theona & Wynocka-if you google it, you can probably get a close up of the horrid thing.

I watched them dig up & put in this horrid PVC contraption that goes along the most beautiful stone wall & into the proper sewer. The whole thing is an eyesore, & the yard was large enough & sloped well & had plenty of shrubs to continue the way it was before the 'compliance'. 2 trees have since died & were cut down, & shrubs have been removed.
IMHO yard looks like crap compared to how it looked before with mature trees & shrubs.

So a better alternative is to take away the source of water keeping the trees & shrubs alive & then you have to run a sprinkler system to keep it all alive????

I'm not sure why these people in Carrick were forced to comply-and none of the other homeowners on the block were-maybe now it is an issue of forcing compliance of this code for the new homeowners?
The house was for sale last I knew.

I also know many a real estate agent will just tell you to disconnect the downspouts if they are running into the wrong drain & fan it out to the yard, & block the drain before the dye test & closing. it is common practice yes, people do look the other way, because most people cannot afford to do it any other way.

[jimmyev]

Why would anyone run rainwater into a sewage system to be treated in a sewage plant?

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

Why would anyone run rainwater into a sewage system to be treated in a sewage plant?

That's the way it used to be done, runoff from the roof went into the sanitary system. Most cities have this issue (as well as a lot of small towns that got central sewer early).

[Goinback2011]

The impact to individual homeowners is bad, but the larger projects taken on by the city or county will bankrupt the local governments.

Look at what happened to Birmingham, AL. The federal government mandates sewer system 'upgrades', then the corrupt local pols will finance bonds with the corrupt banks.

Sewer system customers then pay the bills for decades.

It's a criminal racket.

Blame all around for biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy | Reuters