Fox Point Residents Could Get $5,000 For Fixing Broken Pipes

Fox Point residents could get reimbursed up to $5,000 for fixing broken sewage pipes called private laterals.

“A lot of people don’t even realize they have a lateral, and it’s up to them to get it repaired,” said Bill Graffin, the public information manager for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District.

Private laterals are pipes that sit beneath your house to bring waste like dirty shower and flushed toilet water from your home to the city’s sanitary sewer system. If the lateral is broken or cracked, it could result in a flooded basement for you and your neighbors.

A cracked pipe could lead to gallons of excess ground water charging into the sewer pipe. The city’s sanitary sewer pipe is only eight inches in diameter and connects hundreds of homes.

In addition, some homes have illegal connections to the sanitary sewer system. There are homes with down spouts, sump pumps and foundation drains attached to the pipe, meaning more water is filling that pipe.

If multiple neighboring homes have cracked laterals or illegal hookups, the city’s sewer pipe would overflow, resulting in numerous flooded basements. That’s why checking a home’s lateral pipe with a camera is so important.

“For televising and cleaning the roots out of my home’s lateral, it’s generally around $300,” said Scott Brandmeier, director of public works in Fox Point.  “Then I can tell if it’s broken. It’s more than providing protection to your neighbor; it’s providing yourself piece of mind. It’s piece of mind for something out of sight, but shouldn’t be out of mind.”

Brandmeier said homeowners can call a local plumber, and they should be able to help with finding someone to televise a lateral pipe.

If a homeowner finds a problem, fixing it could get pricey. However, that’s where MMSD steps in to help. After the devastating floods last July, there's now a $151 million program to reduce basement flooding risks.

“Fox Point now has a policy or a resolution that’s adopted so we can provide reimbursement to property owners who are looking to get their lateral fixed,” said Brandmeier.  “We can pay up to $5,000 to fix the lateral, but anything beyond that is the property owner’s responsibility.”

MMSD said it is up to the community to decide whether there will be any cost sharing to fix the lateral, so the $5,000 reimbursement might be different for other communities.

Also, Graffin said the $151 million budget won’t come close to fixing all the problems with sewer pipes, but it will help. MMSD estimates there are about 3,000 miles of private lateral pipes among the 28 communities they serve. In addition, those communities have about 3,000 miles of municipal sewers, and MMSD owns an additional 300 miles of regional sewers.

“As it relates to our system in Fox Point, we clean and televise 50 percent of our system on an annual basis,” said Brandmeier. “We do an infiltration and inflow test to see where clear water would be entering the system. We check the sewer main we’re responsible for, and then we go to individual houses to look for illegal connections to the sanitary sewer system. The last piece is the lateral, and that’s the homeowner’s responsibility.”

Alex Henderson, director of community and utility services for Bayside, also has five additional ideas for homeowners to avoid flooded basements.

1. Make sure your foundation drain is disconnected from your sanitary sewer lateral.
2. Be sure your sump pump is in proper working order (and has alternative power in case of an outage).
3. Direct downspouts and sump pump outfalls away from the foundation base of your home.
4. Don’t run laundry, take long showers, run dishwashers, etc. during heavy storms if it can be avoided. 
5. Perform regular gutter maintenance to keep water from potentially damaging areas of your home.