Resident's Guide to Sewer Lines

At the City of Bartow, we are dedicated to providing ongoing maintenance and repair to the  City's sewer line system, but backups do occur from time to time. How can you, as a Homeowner, help keep our sanitary sewer system in good working order?

WHAT GOES INTO THE SEWER LINE?

Whenever you turn on your faucet, do the laundry or flush the toilet, the water flows from your service line – the part of the pipe that extends from your house into the street, alley, easement or right-of-way – into the city’s main sanitary sewer system. If your community has a homeowners’ association, the portion of the line for which you are responsible could be slightly different. Check with your HOA for more information.

WHY DO SEWER LINE BACKUPS OCCUR?

In some cases tree roots that grow into the line cause backups. Trees won’t bother an intact line, but any crack or separation will attract the roots to the moisture. Once they’re in the line, they will continue to grow – and continue to create the possibility of a serious backup. Homes built prior to 1980 bear the highest risk of root intrusion.

One of the most common causes of backups, however, occurs when people put things down the drain or in the toilet that, over time, can cause serious clogs. Here’s how you can prevent that from happening at your home:

• Do not put grease, dairy products or food scraps down the drain. Your garbage disposal doesn’t break it down adequately, and it can contribute to clogged lines. Instead, scrape food and grease into  the trash.
• Do not flush hair, cigarette butts, aquarium gravel, kitty litter or cotton swabs down the toilet. The sewer lines are not designed to handle those things, and can cause costly backups. 
• Do not flush paper products other than bathroom tissue down the toilet. Other products such as baby wipes, feminine hygiene pads, tampons, condoms, paper towels and similar materials do not break down quickly and cause blockages and other sewer problems.

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

Sewer line backups can be expensive to fix, so we all need to do our part to prevent them. Homeowners are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the service line – the portion of pipe that extends from the home into the street, alley, easement or right-of-way, and into the city’s main sewer line, as well as any street and sidewalk repairs that result. The City of Bartow is responsible for maintaining and repairing the main line.

Again, if your community has a homeowners’ association, the portion of the line for which you are responsible could be slightly different.

Promote the three “Rs” – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• DO - Place liquid fats, oils and grease (FOG) into a jar or container with a lid and then dispose in the trash on trash collection day. Wipe down greasy pots and pans with a paper towel prior to washing in the sink or dishwasher.
• DO - Place a wastebasket in the bathroom to dispose of solid wastes. Disposable diapers, and personal hygiene products do not belong in the sewer system.
• DO - Use a strainer over the drain in your sink, tub and shower. Then empty the collected material into the garbage.
• DO - Use a composter. If you haven’t begun a compost heap, start one with lawn clippings, garden rubbish and food scraps and compost to fertilize your garden.
• DO - Use the manufacturer’s recommended amount of detergent for washing in the kitchen or laundry. The average household uses three times more detergent than manufacturers recommend for washing dishes and clothes. When these detergents enter the sewer system, they hold large amounts of fats, oils and grease in suspension making cleaning and treating the wastewater difficult and more costly. In addition to saving money on buying detergents, by cutting down on the amount of detergent used, there will also be less phosphate in the environment to cause the growth of algae in water.