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STORM SEWER & SEWER: SANITARY SEWER BACKUPS

What To Do If Your Sewer Backs Up:

Call the City Engineering Division's Operations Section at (608) 266-4430. Personnel are available between the hours of:

7:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m., Monday - Friday,
9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

After 11 p.m. a Water Utility dispatcher will assist you, an emergency crew will be called in to respond to your call.

What Will Happen?
The emergency maintenance crew will first check the public sewer main. If the public main is blocked the crew will remove the obstruction to restore service. The crew will notify the property owner or resident when service has been restored.

If the public main is operating normally, indications are that your private building sewer is the cause of the sewer backup. The emergency crew will immediately notify the property owner or resident of this fact. If a blockage in the private building sewer is the cause of the sewer backup, it is the responsibility of the property owner to clear the blockage (the private building sewer extends from the interior plumbing of the building to where the pipe connects to the public sewer main, most frequently located at the center of the street). There are various private firms listed under "sewer cleaners" in the yellow pages who are equipped to remove the blockage from the private building sewer. Residents who have experience in these matters may want to investigate renting equipment to clear the blockages themselves.

If any of these actions are not successful in removing the blockage from the private building sewer, it is possible that the private building sewer has collapsed. The property owner or resident is urged to again contact the City Engineering Operations Section to determine what further measures may be undertaken to reestablish the sewer service. In some instances the entire sewer lateral within the right-of-way may need to be replaced. The property owner may request the City to make the necessary repair(s) to that portion of the building sewer within the public right-of-way or the owner may retain a contractor who is qualified by the City to make the repair(s). If a contractor is used the property owner is responsible to pay the contractor directly for its services. If you, as a property owner, request the City to make the repair(s), the City will decide on how much repair is necessary to provide you with a functional building sewer and bill the actual charges directly to you. The maximum charge for this service is adjusted annual for inflation increases. The 2007 maxium rate is $3,895.79.