Oakland Sewers: Overflowing no more
The City of Oakland spends roughly $250,000 a year paying property owners for damage created by sewer overflows.
San Francisco Chronicle
01/05/2010
A sewer overflow is pretty much what it sounds like - the City's sewer mains get blocked up, either because of debris or grease build-up or deteriorating pipes or groundwater seepage filling up the sewer mains, and then the sewage piles up and, occasionally, leaks out into a creek or storm drain or somewhere equally unpleasant, like your basement. The City of Oakland reported 205 of such overflows last year.
One way to prevent these back-ups from flowing into buildings is the installation of something called a Sewage Backwater Valve (SBV). When someone installs an SBV in the pipe that connects their building to the City's sewer main, then the sewage won't flow in that wait in the event of back-up. Only problem is, SBV installation in an old house can often require a great deal of work and cost as much as $4,000.
A more economical solution to the potential sewage back-up problem is the addition of a Sewage Overflow Device (SOD). Unlike SBV, a SOD does not require plumbing retrofits. Instead, it is installed at ground level above the sewer later's clean-out riser. While they are not as effective as SBVs in eliminate sewage back-flow, they are fairly effective, and, at a cost of only $35-$100, significantly more affordable.
Under a new ordinance being considered by the Oakland City Council tonight, property owners would be required to install SODs whenever they replace or repair their building's sewer lines. Summarizing the reasoning behind the proposal, the meeting's agenda report offers:
Requiring the retrofit installation of low-cost ($35 to $100) "pop-up" devices on clean-outs when private sewer laterals are repaired or replaced will significantly reduce the dollar amount of damage claims paid by the City (approximately $250,000 annually), facilitate the clean-up of raw sewage spills, and enhance the early detection by neighbors of sewer main backups.
