Understanding Sanitary Sewer

Understanding Sanitary Sewer

A sanitary sewer is a pipe buried beneath the street that is designed to transport wastewater from your home. This consists of water from sanitary fixtures and floor drains inside your house, and in some areas includes groundwater from weeping tiles around the foundation of your home.

Storm Sewer

A storm sewer is a pipe buried beneath the street that is designed to carry storm-related water runoff. Storm sewers are normally much larger than sanitary sewers because they are designed to carry much larger amounts of flow.

Sewer Backup

Extra storm-related water (from sources other than wastewater and groundwater) should flow into the storm sewer or soak slowly into the ground without entering the sanitary sewer. If excess storm water does enter the sanitary sewer system, it can overload this kind of system.

When the sewers are overloaded, the water level in the system rises above normal design levels, and this condition is referred to as surcharge. Basement flooding can occur if the home has sanitary fixtures or floor drains below the surcharged level.