Have you ever heard of a sewer lateral? If you are thinking about purchasing a home or selling one in Marin, it is going to be a big issue. The 9 Marin waste water agencies are promoting and educating homes owners about their responsiblities with their sewer laterals, see the Marin IJ artical today, http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_15947743.  

Not only in Marin, but Bay Area wide, the Federal Government is cracking down on the Waste Water agencies (Sewer Districts) and well as environmental groups for illegal spills.  Sewer treatment plants that can process 2 to 5 millions gallons a day during the dry months. During the winter months, they can exceed 2 to 3 times that amount in excess water that enters a closed sewer system. This is well past a plants capacity for treatment. One of the sources of infiltration to this closed system is a sewer lateral. This is the pipe that connects a home or building to the District’s main sewer line, located in the street. It transfers waste water from a home or building to the main line and then to the treatment plant.  The agencies are working towards reducing the excess amount of water entering into the system.

It is important for our community and the environment to reduce the about of excess water entering the system, so that we are properly treating the waste water entering the Bay and Ocean.  We as home owners should take on inspecting and repairing our sewer laterals. The local agencies need to work towards fixing the problem sooner than later. Some of the agencies are looking at inspecting sewer laterals at the time of a sale of a home. It could take 40 to 50 years to solve this issue. Why are the agencies waiting so long. Isn’t our community and the environment important enough?

Here are a few things that effect sewer laterals that may encourage you to inspect your sewer lateral:

1- Older homes, built before 1970 or so. More time for pipes to break.

2- Flat lots or lots located at the bottom of a valley. Water flows down hill.

3- Trees and shrubs. Their roots are naturally looking for water.

4- Down spouts that are connected to the sewer lateral. This is illegal.

5-The home that has not sold in 50 years.

The local agencies monitor the flow of waste water through their systems. They are aware of the areas that cause the most problems, so why are they not addressing these areas first. Why do they want to go after the home owners who want to sell a home. Let’s clean up this problem sooner than later.

Inspect your sewer lateral.