What should a customer do when a sewage backup occurs in the home?
If you experience a sewage backup, call the District Office at 207-985-4741 during working hours. You can also reach an On-Call representative from the District by our emergency numbers below:
(207) 590.0246
(207) 985.6121
Once notified, an On-Call person from the District will be dispatched to arrive at your address and ensure that the mainline is flowing properly. In most cases, the District responder will clean the mainline in the street in any event just to make sure that the District line is clean.
The District representative is not allowed to do work on private property for liability reasons. They will offer advice to the homeowner about how to proceed with cleaning or repairing the service line. Many newer homes have clean outs on the line after it passes through the foundation. This is a point where the homeowner would get cleaning equipment in to “snake out” a clog.
The District owns the pubic sewer or main, but the house service is owned by the property owner. Backups in the service line are often caused by:
- improperly sloped lines with sags that cause solids to accumulate
- Grease
- Sand and grit from construction
- Floor drains, or sumps (not permitted to be connected by regulation)
- Objects flushed down the toilets that accumulate in the service
- Diapers, clothing, wash clothes
Basement Facilities
Basement sinks, toilets and washing machines are discouraged because they can be a problem if the mainline sewer does back. The water in the lines can surcharge your line to a degree that the wastewater could back flow into the home. Also, if you have illegal connections such as foundation drains, sump pumps, or floor drains in the basement, they could be points where the wastewater could back up in the event of a mainline blockage.