PRIVATE SEWER LATERAL REHABILITATION
Many of the privately owned sewers connecting residences to the district’s system are in bad condition. Maintenance of laterals is the responsibility of the owner of the property, and can be quite expensive. Fortunately at this time there are funds available for televising the laterals to determine their condition, and for assisting the property owners through grants to cover up to half of the cost if the work for hardship cases, and low-interest loans which are available to assist others. In order to assist property owners with problem laterals the district is actively coordinating the efforts by individual property owners with the General Manager of the Treatment Plant, who is overseeing the funding program.
Rules governing the maintenance and repair of laterals have been in need of updating. A joint effort by the agencies owning SASM, our joint treatment plant, has been underway for some time. The objective has been to establish rules for the inspection and if necessary replacement of laterals. A major objective has been to have uniform rules throughout Southern Marin to minimize confusion among vendors and realtors. A important new requirement mandates inspection of the lateral of a property when it changes hands. This can be seen as similar to the termite inspection which is standard procedure today and is hoped to significantly upgrade the system. The ordinance was approved on September 23, 2014 and can be found here
- Useful Links:
- What is a sewer lateral?
- Cash for Sewers
Copyright Homestead Valley Sanitary District 2015