Service
Sewage backup in Olympia
Sewage in a tub or floor drain is contaminated water. Two calls matter: one about the pipe, one about the cleanup. This page explains the pipe call. The number above connects you with an independent contractor for the cleanup.
Calling soon after you find the water usually leaves more choices. The call goes to an independent contractor.
Who owns the line in Olympia
The City defines a side sewer as the pipe from the outer wall or foundation of a building to the public sewer. Ownership depends on a cleanout. If there is one at the right-of-way line, the City handles the stretch from the main to that cleanout and you handle the rest. If there is none, the owner is responsible all the way from the main to the building.
The City does not remove roots or blockages from side sewers. Its page says to start with a plumber or a side sewer contractor, and that Public Works Dispatch should be called at 360.753.8333 if the contractor finds a problem in the City-owned section.
While it is backing up
The City of Lacey gives clear instructions for its customers: until crews find the cause, do not run the washer or dishwasher, take showers or baths, or flush toilets or run water down drains. The same restraint makes sense anywhere on a shared sewer.
The CDC's flood guidance adds that items which cannot be disinfected, such as rugs, cloth and drywall, should be thrown away, and that cleanup calls for rubber boots and plastic gloves.
Insurance and backups
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner says sewer or drain backup is not covered by a standard home policy, and that an optional endorsement can be added if your home is on a sewer system. Look for the word backup on your policy's declarations page.
Questions people ask
Is a backup always my responsibility?
Not always. The cause decides it. A blockage in the owner's section is the owner's to clear. If a contractor shows the problem lies between the cleanout and the main, the City accepts that repair, though it schedules the work with other sewer jobs.
Is a backup a flood for insurance?
The regulator treats them separately: backup is its own endorsement, and flood from overflowing storm drains is a flood loss.
Water still spreading? Make the call.
You will be asked what is wet, where the water came from and whether it has stopped. Have the street address in front of you.